Dear Diary,

It's been a long time since I've written to you. I've got to be honest: I haven't seen much of a use for you recently. I started writing in you because I was so alone. My siblings just seemed to delight in tormenting me, my so-called friends were just poseurs, and my parents…well, you know all about them. I've told you plenty.

Everything is different today. My parents were locked up, my siblings are being nice to me again, and I have real friends now. Gus, Willow, heck, even Skara's my friend for real. I have maternal love from Camila. And, of course, I have Luz. Mi valiente defensora. The love and light of my life. She means more to me than I can say. I'm not alone now, and I don't think I ever will be again.

But I can't bother Luz with my problems right now. She's had a hell of a summer. While I got put in an enchanted sleep, Luz was tricked into accepting a deal that put her into another realm where her father was still alive, I was raised by Camila, and she had no choice but to try to get the other me to fall in love with her, or I'd never wake up. Luz accomplished her mission, and time got rewound so she came back at the same time she left. But it came at a terrible price: She once more had to say goodbye to her father.

Just as I've had to say goodbye to mine.

The thing I've feared for so long has come to pass: My mother has escaped from prison. And on her way out, she killed my father. She mind controlled him into shooting himself for seemingly no other reason than because she could. I can't imagine being that cold, not even at my worst moments.

Luz's father was a great man. Eduardo Noceda loved and cherished her, before being cruelly cut down when Luz was just six years old. When I had occasion to venture into Luz's memories, I found evidence that Eduardo, a journalist, may have been murdered due to an investigation that he was running. An investigation that took him to Freetown, Sierra Leone, on another continent. And Mother's accomplice in the Human Realm, Arend Havik? He's been accused of having committed atrocities in Sierra Leone. A coincidence? Very possibly. But the idea of Mother's partner and Eduardo's killer being one and the same won't leave my head.

Mother is a monster, and I'm still discovering new ways that she hurt me without me even noticing. My feelings about Father are…more complicated. He never interfered in her abuse. Never. She was always right to him, and I was always wrong. Yet there were moments of tenderness I remember from him. His pride in my accomplishments felt more genuine than Mother's. I was a worthy heir to his abomination practice. There were times that he saw me as a person, not just a tool. He even hugged me once.

I feel guilty for looking on these incidents so fondly, because I shouldn't. They were pale shadows of the paternal affection I should have received. But Father is dead, and I can't help but miss him. I want to hear his voice again, even if it's just to criticize me. I loved him, even if he didn't love me.

How can I tell Luz these things when she's having to mourn her own father once more, a man who deserves mourning infinitely more than my own father? Camila told me that my parents never loved me, and she was right. I've been trying to let go, and I can't. I'm failing yet again.

Besides, we've both had bigger things to worry about. In the name of security, both Luz and I have been sent to live in the Human Realm. We're not living in Luz's hometown, though. We're living in a town called Gravity Falls, a couple hundred miles away in another state. Gravity Falls is unique in the Human Realm for its complete acceptance of magical creatures and concepts. I don't have to worry about hiding my nonhuman state here, unlike in Luz's hometown.

For now, we're living in the Mystery Shack, the home of Eda's ex-husband Stan Pines. One only has to take one look at Grunkle Stan, as he insists we call him, to see why he and Eda got married and probably, for the very same reasons, why they got divorced too. (I still have no clue what a grunkle is. Apparently, it's an abbreviation of great-uncle, which makes no sense, given that Luz is technically Grunkle Stan's stepdaughter, not his great-niece.) Grunkle Stan is cagy, bombastic, and a scoundrel of the first order, just like his ex-wife.

Grunkle Stan annoys me, but I can't deny that he's done his best to help us. He's had me work on a lot of chores, but it's been clear he's doing it to distract me from the looming threat of Mother, not out of cruelty. And he's introduced me to some human activities such as black and white period piece old lady boring movies (I couldn't believe it when Count Lionel had the nerve to try to reclaim his bride – did he not understand that he had his chance at the cotillion?), the card game poker, and counterfeiting. I don't mean to brag – okay, Diary, you know I actually do, but let's pretend anyway, shall we? – but I'm quite gifted at counterfeiting.

We've also spent time with various other members of the Pines family. There's Soos, owner of the Mystery Shack, and a really sweet guy if a little lacking in the brains department. There's Grunkle Stan's twin brother Ford, who's pretty much the exact opposite. There's Grunkle Stan's actual grandniblings Dipper and Mabel and their respective wives Wendy and Pacifica. As soon as Mabel realized that Luz was technically her step-aunt, she wouldn't stop calling her Aunt Luz and she called me Auntity (for Aunt Amity), even though Luz and I aren't married yet. (Yet, Diary? Dare I hope?) With the exception of Soos and his equally sweet though more levelheaded wife Melody, the rest of the Pines family isn't usually around the Mystery Shack, as their various jobs force them to travel a lot.

Apparently, Luz is part of the Pines family now, which means, by extension, so am I. And I'm not going to lie to you, it's kind of nice. Mother would have blown a gasket at having to interact with any of these people (except Pacifica in her snobbier moments), but that just makes me like them more.

The rest of my family, on the other hand, are still in the Demon Realm. Edric and Emira wanted to join us, but Lilith needs them present to help with the investigation into Mother's escape. And Camila is in her hometown trying to tie up loose ends so that she can move to Gravity Falls for good.

Soon, I'm going to be starting in a human school, and I'm terrified. Luz isn't helping with her warnings about cliques, bullies, and the laborious process of trying to get teachers to honor accommodations listed in her IEP, whatever that is. I'm pretty good at math, which is constant, right? But I don't know much about human science, and I certainly don't know as much as I should about human history. I know that in Gravity Falls, there are nonhuman students, but I'm still worried that people are going to look at me as a freak.

"You know, you keep that nose in the books, you're going to end up like my brother," Grunkle Stan commented, appearing from seemingly nowhere. Of course, he didn't actually do that; I was just so busy writing in you that I didn't pay any attention to my surroundings.

I raised an eyebrow. "Isn't your brother a highly respected and learned scientist?"

Grunkle Stan guffawed. "Respected! Yeah, right! That's a good one. He's smart, but sometimes, he's too smart, know what I mean?" I actually think I did. It reminded me yet again of Father. It's weird how many things are reminding me of him. I barely even thought about him for months at a time after his incarceration. He just didn't matter anymore.

"My dad was an asshole," I said, not sure why I was saying it. The words were just coming out of my mouth. At least they were coming out around Grunkle Stan instead of, I don't know, Mabel or something. I like Mabel, but I do not want to talk about my emotions around her, lest she come up with some convoluted plan to "help" me. "But now he's dead, and I miss him. What's up with that? I barely loved him while he was alive, but now every time I think of him, it hurts."

Grunkle Stan looked solemn for once. "Yeah. Believe it or not, kiddo, I know what that's like. My own dad was a jerk. He hit me, you know? I thought he was just making me tough. It took a long time – probably too long – before I realized it was wrong." I winced. Mother never hit me, but there were times when I was afraid she would. "He kicked me out, told me to make my fortune before I ever showed my face again. I never became rich. Unless you count family, I guess, but he never did."

Grunkle Stan sighed. "He's dead and gone now. I never saw him again after he kicked me out, but I heard him again. I heard him every time I messed up. But I still miss the old bastard in spite of it. Well, you know what I think, Amity? Our dads wouldn't have mourned us if we'd died. Us mourning them, it means we're better than them."

I gave Grunkle Stan a smile. "Thanks, Grunkle Stan."

Grunkle Stan grunted. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Well, I've had my fill of talking about emotions for…I don't know, maybe a year. I'm gonna go fishing. Want to come?" I shook my head. I had gone fishing with him once. Not only was it a profoundly boring experience, but I was terrified the whole time that I'd fall into the water and burn to death, even though the water around here was actually a pleasantly cool temperature. "Okay. Don't burn the place down while I'm gone. Unless you can convince an insurance company to sell us fire insurance again, then burn away."

I was pretty certain that Grunkle Stan was joking when he said those things…but not entirely. In any case, Grunkle Stan clearly trusted us to look after the Shack. Well, to make sure it didn't burn down (or did in the right circumstances) anyway. I had tried my hand at managing the shop because, well, Mother did teach me all about business, but it turns out that the tactics for running a gigantic corporation and a tourist trap were wildly different, and I ended up driving away all our customers.

In any event, it didn't matter because the Shack was temporarily closed for business. Soos and Melody were off on a well-deserved holiday in some place called Hawaii, Mabel and Pacifica were in Paris at a fashion show for Mabel's clothing line, and Dipper, Ford, and Wendy were at a parapsychology conference at Miskatonic University on the other side of the country. This meant that Luz and I had plenty of free time on our hands. Which was a problem, because we were both absolutely freaked out about what Mother and Havik would do next.

If Mother finds me again, that's it. I can kiss my freedom and my very will goodbye. She's got all sorts of oracle artifacts, plus her innate power, to work with. She can manipulate my emotions, my memories, my instincts as she pleases. She never bothered in the past. I think it was because she got more satisfaction with the idea of me being her puppet of my own free will. But now? All bets are off. She could make me forget Luz. She could make me forget I was ever free and make me want to never be free again. At her command, I might even be forced to kill Luz.

The very idea made me shudder. I haven't gotten much sleep since Mother escaped. I've tried, unlike before. But I've failed. The nightmares keep me awake. Luz keeps on asking Grunkle Stan to let us sleep in the same bed to comfort each other, but he thinks that'd be inappropriate and he's not budging. Once Luz sneaked in to do it anyway, but Grunkle Stan found out and made her clean out the outhouse, and she never did it again.

I tried to busy myself in reading for the rest of the afternoon, but Luz saw through my act and bombarded me with kisses until I surrendered and decided to talk with her. (She would have stopped if I asked her to…but I didn't want to, not really.) God, she's such an awesome girlfriend. I have no clue what I ever did to deserve her.

"I really don't want to burden you with my problems," I said automatically, despite the fact that it was a filthy lie.

"Amity, we're a team!" Luz asserted confidently. "Your problems are my problems!"

I fidgeted with my hands. Stimming was yet another thing that Mother would force me to stop if she got her hands on me, and I figured I might as well indulge while I still could. "I, um, I miss my dad. But I know I shouldn't, and my dad wasn't anywhere close to being as awesome as yours, and I'm so sorry that I even bothered you with this, and…"

I trailed off as Luz put a finger to my lips gently. "Shh. It's okay, cariño. I get it. I got to be honest, I was pretty shocked too. But maybe your mom killed him because she thought he would help you stop her? Maybe he was trying to do the right thing in the end?"

I laughed. "Father would never contradict Mother even if she decided to drop him in the Boiling Sea. Father didn't understand right or wrong. Other than abominations, I don't think he understood much of anything. Sometimes, I wonder if he actually knew he had children."

Luz squeezed my hand. "It's okay to be upset, Amity. I'm upset too – upset with your mom for putting you through all this! It's not fair. None of it is fair."

"I just wish I was doing something," I complained. "Not just mindless chores. I wish I was doing something constructive. Something that'd help us stop Mother or Havik."

An idea appeared to occur to Luz. "Well, what if we could? We could talk to Mrs. Axel or her son."

Eduardo hadn't been working on the investigation that had gotten him killed alone. Before he moved to Seattle, he had worked for the New York Daily News, and his mentor, Leo Axel, taught him all he knew about journalism. Axel had gone to Sierra Leone with Eduardo just before Eduardo was killed. A few weeks later, Axel was killed too, supposedly in a mugging gone wrong. Luz was certain that he was actually murdered by Havik, and I didn't really disagree with her. Axel had a wife named Matilda and a son named David but Luz had been too busy to try to get in contact with them so far. Or so she said. I myself thought it was actually because she was too scared of getting another dead end.

"It's worth a shot," I admitted. If they had some clues, we could take them to Lilith and see what she thought of them. I was no investigator, and I wouldn't even know where to begin.

Luz took out her cell phone and put it on speakerphone so we could both hear it. She called Matilda's number, which Camila had given her, but it was out of service, so she called David's number instead. "Hello? Who is this?" David asked.

I gave Luz an encouraging nod. "Hi, David, this is Luz Noceda. Um, your dad and mine were friends."

"Sure, I remember him mentioning you once or twice," David said. "What's got you calling?"

"I'm investigating my dad's murder!" Luz blurted out, and I did a face palm. I had thought she'd be more subtle, especially given the fact that David's father may well have been murdered by the same person as hers. "I was wondering if you knew anything about it? I think Dad and your dad were doing an investigation together just before they died."

There was silence from David and a strange crackling sound on the other end of the line for a few moments. "Dad didn't talk about his work much," David admitted. "I'm sorry about your dad. He was always nice to me. My mom might know more. I'll ask her. She doesn't trust technology anymore – doesn't have a phone. She got pretty paranoid after Dad died."

"Thank you so much, David," Luz said. "I know I'm a complete stranger, so I really appreciate you helping me out like this."

"No problem," David informed her. "Us kids of New Yorkers got to stick together, right? You a Mets fan like your dad?" The Mets, I knew, was a baseball team.

Luz smiled. "Yeah. Though I live in Seattle now, so the Mariners are the home team for me."

"They're doing pretty well this year," David observed. "Think they'll make the Series?"

"I'm not holding my breath," Luz admitted. The Mariners hadn't advanced to the World Series (which, despite its name, only had teams from two of the hundreds of countries of Earth) for around two decades, and Luz, she told me once, had given up all hope that they would ever do so. "Bye, David."

She hung up the phone and sighed. "I hate waiting for things." I could get that. Patience, it was said, was a virtue, but it wasn't one that either one of us possessed much. Mother wasn't an especially patient woman either. If anything, Father was – had been – too patient. He could become engrossed in something and lose all track of time and the need to eat, sleep, and very occasionally breathe.

A wild, crazy idea suddenly came to my mind. I blamed Grunkle Stan, Eda, and my siblings. There was no way that I would have come up with it on my own without their influence, of course. "What if you didn't have to wait? What if we went to New York right now?"

Luz sighed. "Yeah, I wish we could! But I don't know how to readjust the portal. We'd have to wait until Ford got back, and he'd probably say no anyways. And getting there the human way costs a lot of money we don't have."

"We could ask Grunkle Stan," I suggested. Even as the words crossed my lips, I knew that it was a stupid idea. Grunkle Stan was a notorious cheapskate. There was no way he'd pay money to transport us thousands of miles away just based on a whim of Luz's to investigate a fleeting lead into a cold case.

But nonetheless, I hated admitting to even myself that I was wrong, so I decided to ask him anyway when he got back from fishing. I was surprised to find that he actually seemed like he was considering the idea.

"Ford did rack up a ton of frequent flier miles," Grunkle Stan said. I had no idea what the hell those were, but the overall thrust of the statement seemed encouraging, so I nodded at him to go on. "I don't think he knows what they're for." Something we had in common. "But I don't think so. Eda told me not to take you to New York, and she's a scary lady. I don't want to get turned into a newt!"

Luz sighed and sat down in an armchair. I sat down on a couch, prepared to watch yet another black and white movie to keep my worries away for another few hours. And then I realized what Stan had just said. "Hang on a second," I said slowly. "She specifically told you not to take us to New York? Not outside Gravity Falls, not away from the portal, she said don't take them to New York?"

Grunkle Stan appeared to realize just what I was saying. Eda was pretty good at reverse psychology and she knew exactly what sort of person her ex-husband was. Why would she tell him that, we were both thinking, if she didn't secretly want us to go to New York? "Huh. Yeah, I didn't notice that. But still, Amity…I don't know. She's not the only scary lady in Luz's family. Camila keeps on threatening me with something called la chancla. I don't know what it is, but Soos let out a really high pitched shriek of fear when I asked him, and that's good enough for me!"

I could practically see the wheels turning in his head. "Nope. Sorry. Not going to risk it. It'd have to take some really extraordinary circumstances to get me to leave Gravity Falls, like if the place was under attack or something." There was silence for a few seconds. "Well, I've got to make some phone calls. Bye!"

"It's not just me who's worried, right?" Luz said nervously. I shrugged. I was almost entirely certain, but not entirely, that Grunkle Stan had been joking.

The next morning, I was going through the textbooks that I'd need for when I started in Gravity Falls High School when there was a knock at the door. They didn't make any sense to me at all, especially the history textbooks. When did humans find the time to make so many astonishing technological advances when they were constantly fighting each other? It was so frustrating. Even now that I knew that the world wouldn't end if I wasn't entirely perfect academically, I was justly proud of my academic prowess. That pride would be dissipating soon enough, I could tell.

Anyway, I answered the door, and an unfamiliar man was on the other side. He was a big, muscular man, maybe of middle age, and was wearing a blazer that reminded me of the pictures of what Valefar had been wearing before he'd been arrested. There was no shirt under it, and I could see his hairy, tattooed chest. He was holding a baseball bat in his hand and looked like he was a man who was both willing and able to use it.

"Where is Stan Pines?" the man rumbled in an unfamiliar accent. "I got phone call saying he is here. He must pay!"

I gave a nervous laugh. "Uh, I don't know where he is." That was a lie. I knew exactly where he was: asleep in his bedroom. He always slept in. "Can I ask who wants to speak to him?"

"Tell him Boris wants his money," Boris announced. "And if I don't get it, I kill you all!"

I gave him a finger guns gesture – oh, Titan, I looked like such a dork; Luz is definitely rubbing off on me – and ran inside as fast as I could. I banged on the door of Grunkle Stan's bedroom. "Grunkle Stan! There's a guy named Boris here. He says you owe him money! He doesn't seem very happy." I narrowed my eyes. "Did you call him and tell him you were here?"

"I'm not an idiot, Amity," Grunkle Stan said scornfully. "I wouldn't bring a known member of the Russian mafia to the house just to give us an excuse to go to New York. I'd just lie and say he was here." Well. I suppose that made sense, and I felt a little guilty for thinking that Grunkle Stan had organized this whole thing. But only a little, because it was so his style. "I'm going to get Luz. Stall him until I call you." In preparation for my time in the Human Realm, Wendy had given me an old cell phone of hers. It was fairly rudimentary compared to some of the newer ones, and definitely compared to Luz's. It was a flip phone, instead of a smartphone, whatever that was. Still, it made calls and received text messages and that usually sufficed.

I returned downstairs to find Boris in the Mystery Shack's gift shop, looking at the merchandise with contempt and scorn. I couldn't help but feel offended. I didn't know what this Russian mafia was, but presumably they were criminals, and they'd probably done much worse than Grunkle Stan ever did. Boris had no right to judge us. (Wow. Suddenly it was us. That was definitely new, Diary.)

"Where is Pines?" Boris demanded.

"He's coming," I lied. "In the meantime, can I interest you in some merchandise? Half-off due to how incredibly scary you are!" Grunkle Stan would strangle me if he found out I was practically giving away merchandise, but it was better than Boris literally strangling me.

"Why would I buy what I can take?" Boris asked rhetorically, and he tossed a snow globe onto the ground, where it shattered. Good point, I had to admit. "Who are you? Why do your ears look so strange?"

If Boris was an outsider, it was not a good idea to use magic against him. I didn't want these mafia people to get word that magic existed. If I had to, I would use it, but for now, I was going to trust Grunkle Stan's plan. So instead, I just leaned into the role of a scared, helpless girl. It wasn't exactly a huge leap. "I'm Amity. I'm an employee at the Shack." It was best not to let Boris knew I was even tangentially part of the Pines family, lest he decide to use me as a hostage. "I don't know why my ears are strange. I was born with them. Please don't hurt me. I have a family. This is my first day here; I barely even know Mr. Pines!"

Boris stepped forward, waving the baseball bat menacingly. "Well, let me tell you, Amity, what sort of a man Stan Pines is. He is swindler and liar, a man who will stab anyone in the back to get ahead!" Tell me something I don't know, I mentally responded in my head as I nodded frantically in response to this statement.

I got on my knees, tears filling my eyes. "Please, sir. I'm just a child!" He took another step forward and then I abruptly grabbed the baseball bat. He was so shocked that he let me take it out of his hands without resistance.

I swung the baseball bat at Boris's right knee, creating a satisfying cracking sound and sending him falling to the ground. He looked frantic. "No, wait, I think there's been a misunderstanding here," he said in an American accent. I kicked him in the face before he could clarify it with such force that he hit his head against the wall and was knocked unconscious. My phone vibrated and I answered it.

"Threat neutralized," I said in a confident tone, like I was in one of those spy novels that Gus liked so much.

"You didn't kill him, did you?" Grunkle Stan asked, sounding worried.

"No, he's alive," I said. "I just knocked him out."

There was silence on the other end of the line for a few moments. "Uh, good. Right. Remember that trapdoor I showed you in the living room?" I did. It led into the basement. "Luz and I are in the basement now. Get down here before he wakes up."

After Grunkle Stan hung up, I followed his instructions. The trapdoor in question opened up a big hole in the floor, and I ended up going down a slide until I was in Ford's lab. (We were not on grunkle terms, and Ford was fine with that.) The portal door stood before me, and I was very tempted for a few seconds to step through it. The Boiling Isles were my home. I thought the Human Realm was pretty awesome, but it would never be my home, not in the way the Demon Realm was.

But I resisted the temptation and instead looked over at my awesome and now somewhat panicky looking girlfriend. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Luz said dismissively. It was impossible to tell if she meant it. We both had a habit of pretending we were fine when we weren't. "Grunkle Stan, maybe we should call the police?"

Grunkle Stan laughed. "You've got to be joking! The only crimes those buffoons solved is the case of what size donuts they're having for lunch! Besides, Boris'd chew them up and spit them out." I very much hope Grunkle Stan didn't mean that literally. "Well, now we're in a real pickle. Boris's boss, Sergei Andropov, is the biggest mafia boss on this side of the country – he's got contacts in criminal organizations up and down the West Coast. Seattle, Portland, Frisco, LA, you name it."

I could see where this was going. "So, let me guess. We're going to the East Coast. To New York, more precisely."

Grunkle Stan plastered an utterly unconvincing expression of total innocence on his face. Seriously, even the twins could look more innocent than that. "Yeah. Funny how that worked out. And, you know, if you wanted to do that investigation stuff while you're there…well, I guess I'd be willing to help. Don't get used to it!" he added perfunctorily.

Luz gave him a hug that almost crushed his bones. "I need my ribs, Luz!" Grunkle Stan shouted. "I'm not as young as I used to be!"

"Thank you so much, Grunkle Stan," Luz whispered.

"Thank me when we're free and clear, kid," Grunkle Stan said dismissively. "It's a long road to Portland." Grunkle Stan wrote a note explaining what had happened and left it on Ford's desk for when Camila came to check on us. I couldn't help but see that he signed Ford's name to the note as well, but I said nothing. It wasn't as if Camila would fall for it for a microsecond anyway.

Despite Stan's worries (or supposed worries; I'm still not exactly sure which), the drive to Portland was quiet and boring. We didn't run into any trouble from Boris's people or anyone else. It's still weird being in cars. I'm not scared of them like Gus is (not that he'd ever admit it), but there's something very unsettling about miles and miles of countryside being traversed at speeds much faster than walking.

It took several hours to reach the city of Portland. In fact, we didn't even enter the city proper. Grunkle Stan steered away from it, heading in the direction of the airport, which was by the Columbia River, very close to the border with Luz's state.

And then it hit me. I was going to an airport.

Diary, I'm about to fly on an airplane!

I'm sure you've heard from my previous records how amazing I find airplanes. Humans are able to use their technology – without even utilizing the faintest spark of magic – to fly hundreds of people thousands of miles per hour, across continents and even entire oceans sometimes! Ever since I first heard of an airplane, I've wanted to fly in one. I saw a bunch of them at the Museum of Flight in Seattle back in the spring, but they were on the ground, inert. Now I'm about to fly! I was practically bouncing on my seat with excitement.

"Someone's looking forward to their trip," Grunkle Stan observed.

"Are you kidding me? I get to fly on an airplane! This is going to be the best time ever!"

I've got to stop writing, Diary, but I'll write some more when I arrive in New York City!

Yours faithfully,

Amity Blight

Arend Havik's one true love was war. He'd had relationships before, even been married twice, but no interaction that he'd ever had with another human being compared to the feeling of ecstasy that he felt when he took a life. These days, his interaction with the battlefield was indirect, as the CEO of the Morningstar private military company. He hadn't been on a battlefield in three years, hadn't killed in two. He'd tried to substitute serial killing for warfare for a few months, but it hadn't been the same. It had been boring in comparison. Warfare was a high incomparable to anything else.

It was astonishing to him that anyone could ever not want to be at war. There was no better feeling, in his estimation, than the thrill of conquering an enemy, to see them broken and bleeding at your feet. But, no, it turned out that bloodlust was not unlimited. Orwell was wrong – it was impossible to forevermore sustain hatred against an enemy.

The War on Terror was winding down. It was the will of the American people. President Lake had listened after she was elected in the 2020 election, the first time an independent candidate had been elected president. She withdrew US troops from Afghanistan. The Taliban took over the country, and that was the end of the Afghan war and the Morningstar Corporation's operations there. Of course, he could have hired out his mercenaries to the Taliban, but that would have been unprofitable; there would be other opportunities to work for the United States in the future, and he didn't want to burn his bridges.

With the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan, Havik felt that it was time to start another war. And this time, he knew just who it would be against: The inhabitants of the Demon Realm.

Havik's father, Gaius Soleb, had ostensibly been a diplomat, but had actually worked for the CIA. He had been sent to South Africa in the 1950s as a sort of punishment. Soleb was a believer in all sorts of parapsychological phenomena, and he wasn't shy about talking about it either. The CIA actually was involved in paranormal research, but they were desperate to keep it secret, lest they look like lunatics. Thus, Soleb was sent half a world away in the hopes that he'd get the hint and keep his trap shut.

Unfortunately for them, Soleb's research into the paranormal continued. He pursued rumors and shadows. In 1960, shortly after marrying Havik's mother, he pursued one of those rumors to Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa's Northern Cape province. Some archeologists now believe that Wonderwerk was the site of the earliest known success by humanity's ancestors to control fire. Either way, it contained a permanent portal to the Demon Realm, which Soleb started exploring.

When the Cuban Missile Crisis looked like it might end in nuclear war, Soleb fled, without bothering to bring his pregnant wife, into the Demon Realm. When he returned, Soleb told his wife everything, but Havik's mother refused to believe him and divorced him. She remarried and Havik grew up not having all that much knowledge of his father. He went to the best schools in South Africa, went into the Recces, the special forces, after he became an adult.

In 1984, Havik was enjoying a perfectly nice drink in a bar in Cape Town when his father abruptly reentered his life. He flat out refused to believe Soleb when he told Havik that he was his father, especially given the fact that Soleb was A) way too young and B) completely insane. He kept on blathering on about the Demon Realm and how he was the emperor there, Emperor Belos, and wanted Havik to be his prince.

Havik wouldn't believe a word of it. He was a serious man who lived in the material world. He didn't believe in demons and witchcraft and the like. But he did believe in fleecing people for free drinks, so he let Belos buy him a drink. This proved to be a mistake when Belos spiked it, and Havik soon lost consciousness.

When Havik awoke, he was in the Demon Realm. He did not like it one iota, but he would not deny the evidence of his own eyes. Belos was telling the truth. He also started telling the truth about his plans, and that was when Havik knew that he was going to have to make a run for it. Belos actually thought he was going to smash the two worlds together and thereby end the Cold War. Havik may not have had a tremendous amount of loyalty to the South African government, but it was his home, and he'd not like to see it destroyed. Besides, the Cold War was going to end eventually; the Soviets were overextending themselves in Afghanistan and it was doing a number on their economy.

It turned out that the only reason why Belos had sought him out was the fact that the portal in Wonderwerk Cave, formerly thought to be eternal, was becoming destabilized. There was some disturbance in the fabric of reality centered around the closing of the interdimensional gateway in Hawkins, Indiana. Havik didn't really understand the science of the portals; he paid people to do it for him. Belos thought that he'd be able to get Havik before his Day of Unity became reality, but faced with the prospect of having no permanent way back to Earth, he'd acted early.

Havik had said and did all the right things, then ran for the portal as soon as he could. Once he was back on Earth, he vowed that he'd never have anything to do with the Demon Realm again. And for a long time, he thought he was going to be able to keep his promise.

The apartheid regime fell, but that wasn't all that surprising, in Havik's opinion. It was a house of cards to begin with. It had, however, ended in a more orderly fashion than Havik had expected, which had allowed him to gather some of his closest friends in the Recces and form the Morningstar Corporation. Havik's cunning business sense and his utter ruthlessness and amorality allowed him and his company to become very, very successful.

The War on Terror had been a godsend for Morningstar. It had made Havik a billionaire. But nothing lasted forever. After the Electoral College was abolished under circumstances that were unclear at best in 2012, an independent candidacy for president was inevitable. Joanna Lake, the already independent governor of Pennsylvania, announced her candidacy ahead of the 2020 election and made withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan a key plank in her campaign platform. And the idea polled extremely well with Americans from all sides.

Even if Lake was defeated, Havik knew that it was time to move on. So he did the one thing he promised he would never do, and turned towards the Demon Realm once more. He hired scientists to locate new portals. It didn't take them very long to find a portal in the form of a door in a suburb of Seattle. Havik sent drones in to do reconnaissance, but they were all devoured by a hideous looking nightmare demon that looked like an owl that seemed to extend out of a house. Havik had nightmares for months after seeing that abomination.

And just when Havik was about ready to cut his losses and maybe try to convince the Chinese to invade Taiwan, a teenage girl walked through the portal. A teenage girl with a cell phone. Havik's operatives eagerly cloned the phone and remotely set it to be constantly recording. And just like that, a incalculably valuable intelligence asset fell into Havik's lap. The girl's name was Luz Noceda, and in a particularly bizarre coincidence – but no more than that – Havik had killed her father.

Eduardo Noceda had been volunteering to help teach ESL to recent immigrants when he had struck up a friendship of a survivor of a massacre that Havik had personally overseen back in 1995 while his company fought in the Sierra Leone Civil War. Havik really thought that all the survivors had been killed, but he must have missed one. Upon discovering Havik's involvement, Noceda and his mentor Axel went to Sierra Leone to interview other residents of the village. Havik had them both killed soon after they returned along with the survivor; it would have been so bothersome to have to be investigated for a massacre that was really quite inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.

Noceda may have been inconsequential himself, but it soon became clear that his daughter was not. She was accomplishing very impressive things, becoming the first human witch in history (well, unless one counted Belos, and frankly, Havik wasn't sure that he was properly classified as human anymore). Havik discovered that Luz's mother had sent her to a conversion camp, but she had stumbled into the Boiling Isles instead. He couldn't help but approve of Camila's decision, and was disappointed to discover later that it was an accident, that she'd been tricked.

The camp eagerly accepted Havik's bribe to persuade them to forge letters in Luz's name so that Camila wouldn't realize her daughter was missing. The last thing Havik needed was a search party sniffing around the portal.

As the summer went on, Luz became stronger, and Havik learned a great deal about the political state of the Boiling Isles. He learned about the major power players. He learned about the underlying tension between witches and demons that Belos had temporarily set aside through his strongman regime. That was particularly encouraging for his plans; as Yugoslavia had taught him to the tune of a great deal of profit, countries with simmering ethnic tensions always created the bloodiest of civil wars.

Luz continued to go on adventures. It was cute, really. Havik could easily see her adventures being adapted to a Disney animated show, though they probably would end up cancelling the show after two full seasons and a majorly shortened third season because it didn't fit their brand or some other asinine reason. In any case, Havik didn't care about Luz losing Eda's palisman or getting tricked into an unfair publishing contract or whatever stupid antics she was getting up to each week.

He did, however, care about her blossoming relationship with Amity Blight, because it allowed Havik to learn about the most powerful individuals, save Belos, on the Boiling Isles. The Blight matriarch Odalia, in particular, seemed ripe for manipulation and potential partnership. Havik approved of the heavy-handed approach to discipline that she had, and, of course, her endless ambition. She was a strong, worthy individual, quite unlike her weak children.

The portal went down for a few weeks and when it returned, Havik quickly learned that the political situation had drastically changed. Belos was dead. Havik did not mourn him; he hadn't cared about anyone in his life and he certainly didn't care about his father, who had abandoned, drugged, and kidnapped him. But his death changed everything. Belos was the perfect villain for the American government to rage against. His Day of Unity was a terrifying threat, especially if Havik "forgot" to mention that the United States would, theoretically, remain safe and sound.

But now, the Boiling Isles was a constitutional monarchy, led by Eda the Owl Lady, and that changed things. Havik needed time to reconsider his plans. In the meantime, Havik planted bugs in the Noceda residence and in Luz's classrooms. When she started socializing with other people, he bugged their homes and devices as well. Luz confided her secret in her mother, who believed her and let her return to the Boiling Isles. This was good news for Havik too, since if Luz hadn't told anyone at home about her time in the Boiling Isles, he'd have lost his source of intelligence for goodness knows how long.

In October, Odalia tried to lead a coup against the new regime. Havik wished he had known about it; he'd have helped her. But she ended up overextending herself and got imprisoned. At that point, Havik knew that she was the right person to put on the throne; she'd be the perfect puppet leader. True, she was unstable at the best of times, but was she more unstable than some of the dictators that the United States had sponsored? No, she was not. In any case, that just made her even easier to manipulate.

Lake was elected president, and, as promised, she withdrew troops from Afghanistan. Havik continued to bide his time; the pieces were not in position yet. His scientists were working on reopening the Wonderwerk portal, but it was taking time, which was understandable, if frustrating. It became abundantly clear that Eda saw Luz not only as her apprentice, but as a daughter, which was good news – it would make her an excellent hostage if push came to shove.

In the spring, Amity came to Earth for a visit, and though she tried to cover her tracks, she made enough of a disturbance that Havik was finally able to confront her while having an excuse to have discovered her that didn't give away the fact that Luz's communications were being monitored. He implied that he was working with Odalia by mentioning Odalia's nickname for Amity, which he had actually gotten through Luz's bugged phone. As Havik foresaw, this sent Amity into a tailspin, which Luz attempted to rectify by reassuring her about the various levels of security surrounding Odalia, allowing Havik to develop strategies to circumvent them.

In the summer, his scientists finally succeeded in reopening the Wonderwerk portal. The increasing instability in South Africa – some of which Havik had engineered – allowed him to send a team to occupy Wonderwerk Cave and dispose of anyone who found out without drawing much attention. With the portal opened, Havik finally was able to make contact with Odalia, who eagerly responded to his entreaties. With everything in readiness, Havik busted Odalia out and brought her to New York.

And now, Havik's operatives were informing him that Luz and Amity were on their way to New York alongside a man named Stan Pines. Pines looked like a harmless old man on the outside, but his vast criminal record, including seemingly getting away with stealing nuclear waste, belied that impression. He may not have been very skilled at combat, but in the right circumstances a well-functioning brain could be more dangerous than any weapon.

Luz was investigating her father's murder. Havik didn't think there was a trail that could possibly lead Luz to him, but then again, he hadn't thought that about the Sierra Leone massacre, either. If he was even accused of having killed an American citizen, much less a journalist, it could potentially severely disrupt – or even thwart altogether – his intricate plans.

Havik pressed a button on his desk, and a man walked into the room. The man had been known by several names over the years, but the name that he was most commonly known and feared as was Swaard. He looked like a very unassuming man. He could have been easily mistaken for an accountant or a teacher instead of the assassin, ex-Recces operative, and lead enforcer for Havik that he actually was. But Swaard was a skilled and brutal killer, capable of bringing death to just about anyone. It had been he who had actually carried out the assassination of Eduardo Noceda.

"Luz Noceda is coming to New York to investigate her father's murder," Havik announced. "If there are any loose ends that you've been hiding from me, now is the time to come clean."

"There is nothing like that, Arend," Swaard promised him. Havik believed him, at least in terms of knowing about any loose ends that may remain. He had trusted Swaard with his life, quite literally, on multiple occasions. He was one of the very few people in the world that he tolerated referring to him by his first name. And he was the best in his field, bar none. But no one, not even Swaard was perfect. A trail might still exist, unknown to them. "I can kill them all as soon as they arrive in the city. The girl's magic would be powerless against a drive-by shooting."

It was tempting, Havik had to admit. But no. Were it just Luz, he might – might – have taken the risk. But Odalia wanted Amity alive so she could be broken. And at any rate, if a trail existed, then Noceda's daughter was most likely to find it. "Continue surveillance only. When it is time, I will give the kill order. And the Blight girl is not to be killed. She can be harmed to your heart's content, but she must remain alive."

Swaard gave an elaborate bow and left the room. Havik walked over to the window of his office on the 101st floor of the Empire State Building and out at the glorious Manhattan skyline. This skyline was the culmination of human civilization, an overpowering symbol of mankind's innate superiority.

Twenty years ago, the world had changed immensely with the destruction of one of the buildings on that skyline. Now the greatest change the world would ever experience was being engineered from an even more famous landmark than the World Trade Center. Everything these pitiful insects below him thought they knew was about to change.

And to kick it off, he was going to give them a show that would make 9/11 look like a playground scuffle. Arend Havik thought of the carnage that would soon make him the world's richest man, and it brought a smile to his lips.

Dear Diary,

I am the happiest witch who ever lived, because I've gotten to fly on an airplane! I've absolutely got to tell you everything!

I really didn't expect the Portland airport to be so big, first off. Buildings in the Boiling Isles don't tend to be especially large. And apparently it's relatively small for a major city's airport. According to Luz, Seattle's airport (which apparently is called SeaTac?) is even bigger.

But more than the size, it's the grandiosity of the place that strikes me as amazing. It's a veritable temple to the dream of flight, not unlike Seattle's Museum of Flight. Floor to ceiling glass windows, beautiful glass skylights, plush carpeting, the place is so unlike what I'm used to in the Boiling Isles.

Grunkle Stan finds the fact that I'm so in awe of all this to be incomprehensible. To him, it's perfectly normal. He's a man who's traveled a lot in his time, so he's gotten used to this. But to me, this is just as amazing and fantastical as some of the normal things in the Isles was to Luz when she first arrived. Luz thinks it's adorable how I'm fawning over things that she, too, has gotten fairly used to.

We left Grunkle Stan's battered car in the airport parking garage. I couldn't help but note that Grunkle Stan had already packed several suitcases, despite the "unexpected" nature of our departure. Much to my surprise, Grunkle Stan put on a pair of glasses that belonged to Ford before leaving the car. My own disguise was already handled – I used a minor illusion spell to make my eyes look as brown as Luz's, and I wore my hair long so that it covered my ears, just like when I went to Seattle in the spring.

Grunkle Stan, as it turned out, was banned from flying. He went on a rant under his breath about how all he did was kidnap a senator and toss him into the bottomless pit, and he came back up after twenty minutes, so he had no idea what the guy was complaining about. Luz, I was somewhat gratified to see, looked just as bewildered as I was at that rant. Anyway, now that all his crimes were now listed under his own name instead of Ford's ("What?" I asked Luz under my breath. She just shrugged.) he was going to pretend to be Ford so he wouldn't be arrested.

At this point, I just washed my hands of trying to understand what was going on and followed Grunkle Stan and Luz into the terminal. Grunkle Stan went into a bathroom with one of his suitcases and came out dressed like Ford. I had to give him credit for the impersonation – had I not known that Stan was impersonating Ford, I wouldn't have mistaken him for his brother.

Grunkle Stan took us over to an area where various airlines (companies that owned airplanes and took passengers on commercial travel) had their check in areas. At that point, he gave an astonishingly good impersonation of his brother, including utilizing a bunch of technical terms that I had no idea had any basis in reality, but certainly sounded very impressive. According to him, he was taking his niece Luz ("Step-niece, actually. It's a long story…" he responded to the clerk's skeptical look, strictly speaking truthfully about that part.) and me to the Big Apple. I don't know what an apple is, or what its size has to do with anything. Maybe it's a synonym for city?

The clerk processed our luggage, gave us our tickets and sent us on our way. But that wasn't the first or anywhere close to the biggest problem we'd have to face on our way to the plane. No, the far bigger problem was airport security.

According to Luz – and I'm not 100% sure I understand all of it – after terrorists used planes to execute an attack on this country two decades ago, law enforcement here got insanely paranoid about security at airports. In any event, these officers mean business. They're not to be messed around with and they carry some very deadly weaponry. According to Grunkle Stan, they like to shoot first and ask questions if there's anything left of you to respond to them later.

I've been pretending to be a Canadian citizen during my time in the United States. Lilith procured a fake passport and put my name in various Canadian government systems. But I still couldn't help but worry that they'd see through my fake documentation and arrest me.

As we approached the frankly very intimidating security lines, which blocked our path to the inner areas of the airport, I made sure to squeeze Luz's hand the whole time. I also cast a bard spell through song sung under my breath which would foster a feeling of cooperation and goodwill to those in the surrounding area. It wouldn't help stop people from acting against me if they had hostile intention, but it would hopefully help prevent people from getting suspicious in the first place.

The agent who inspected our IDs, including Grunkle Stan and my fake ones, seemed like he didn't have any suspicions whatsoever. "I hope you enjoyed your time here in Portland, Miss Blight?"

"Yes, it's a lovely apple you have here," I said in the most polite tone I possessed. "I wish I had more time here, but I'm looking forward to seeing the big one."

The agent looked at me strangely, but didn't ask any questions as he waved us through. Bard magic had its perks. Anyway, how could anyone see anyone with Luz and suspect them of having hostile intentions? Mind you, one could say the exact opposite about Grunkle Stan, so maybe it balanced out.

As we moved forward in the line, passing through a machine that was supposed to determine if we carried anything metallic on us, Luz spotted a machine ahead of us that made her go pale. "Grunkle Stan, we can't let her get an X-ray," she whispered to him. "It'll show that she's not…you know…" I wasn't sure how these X-rays would reveal my nonhuman nature, but if Luz said it, I trusted her to know what she was talking about.

Grunkle Stan got it immediately and flagged down a nearby agent. "Excuse me. My niece's girlfriend here has a pacemaker – congenital heart condition." I had no clue what a pacemaker was, so I just nodded.

"No problem," the agent said. She motioned for me to follow her.

"She's a little nervous – this is her first time flying," Grunkle Stan added.

The agent didn't look particularly surprised. Presumably, she got first time flyers around all the time. "Okay, dear, what I'm going to need to do is pat you down to make sure that you're not hiding anything. It's just a formality; don't worry about it." I scowled, but allowed her to pat me down. It was an unpleasant experience, but since I was indeed not hiding anything (at least on the outside), it was over relatively quickly. "There we go! Have a nice trip."

She allowed me to pass around the machines that Luz and Grunkle Stan had to go through. There weren't any issues with them, and soon enough, we were free and clear!

"I can't believe that you have to go through this every time you want to fly somewhere," I complained. "It's so uncivilized!"

"You think this is bad, you try dealing with the cops in Bogota!" Grunkle Stan retorted. "Those guys don't mess around."

Well, either way, we were past the worst of it all, Luz assured me. If we'd been going to another country, there'd be more intense scrutiny, but since we were just going to another state, we wouldn't need to worry about any sort of security until we flew back. With that under my belt, I walked through the Portland airport. In its own way, it reminded me of a marketplace, complete with restaurants and stores, even a small bookstore. I was disappointed to find that the bookstore didn't have any copies of the Good Witch Azura books, but you can't have everything.

There were these platforms that seemed to move on their own (some sort of a machine, no doubt) in the terminal. Grunkle Stan opted to travel on them, while Luz decided to run her way past him beside the platforms. I stayed with Grunkle Stan. I was pretty excited about flying, but at the same time, I was also kind of nervous, and I found his presence to be comforting. Not that Luz isn't comforting! But, you know, Grunkle Stan is an adult. The adults are supposed to be the ones to protect you. Mother certainly taught me differently, but occasionally, I like to indulge in that delusion.

Anyway, we got to our gate, and just in time too, because they started boarding the first bunch of customers almost immediately upon our arrival. "They mentioned disabled passengers," I said to Grunkle Stan. "Is that us?" I knew that Luz and I were considered to be disabled neurologically speaking, but I wasn't sure if they were just boarding the physically disabled passengers.

"Sure is," Stan said breezily. "You've got a pacemaker, remember?" I gave a weak laugh. I hadn't been comfortable with the idea of lying to the cops. Going in when another disabled passenger should be…it didn't sit well with me. "Anyway, I'm an old man! I've got more problems with me than I can shake a stick at."

Luz squeezed my hand. "Don't worry about it, Amity. It'll be fine."

The man at the desk looked over our tickets and our IDs. Once more, my fake passport passed muster. It didn't look like they were paying much attention. They probably figured that if I passed security, it was all good. The three of us walked through a corridor and then, Diary…the airplane was right in front of me! And we were going inside it!

And the seats looked so comfortable and luxurious! Truly, humans knew how to travel! I sat down in the nearest one. But Grunkle Stan gently dragged me out of the chair. "Sorry, pumpkin. Couldn't spring for first class, not even with Ford's…my miles. We're traveling coach, because it's cheaper."

"What's coach?" I whispered to Luz as we went past somewhat less appealing but still comfortable looking seats towards ones that looked only okay at best.

"It's where the poor people sit," Luz said with a wink. I couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not. "Think of it this way. Your mom would have an aneurism if she saw you here!" That did make me feel better, not that I'd admit it to anyone but you, Diary. "Grunkle Stan, can Amity have the window seat, please? Please, please, please?"

"I'm going to guess you're taking the middle?" Grunkle Stan asked, already looking resigned to it. Luz made her most pleading face. Not even Grunkle Stan was immune to it. "Fine, fine, go there before I change my mind."

I gave a big smile at Grunkle Stan. "Thank you, sir!"

Grunkle Stan made a face. "Sir? I did not hear that leave your mouth, young lady! I'm Grunkle Stan. Or hey you! Boss, if you absolutely have to call me something fancy. But sir? I ain't that. Never will be. Proud of it too!"

I went over to the seat closest to the window. I unfurled the flap covering the window. It was small, but serviceable. Luz sat down next to me. Grunkle Stan took the seat closest to the aisle. "Don't worry, kids," Grunkle Stan assured us. "No one's gonna get to you with your Grunkle Stan around." He leaned back in his seat and then almost instantly fell asleep. His snores were so loud they should be classified as a sonic weapon, in my opinion.

"Mami's gonna freak when she finds out I left Gravity Falls," Luz admitted. "I just hope she can forgive me."

"She will," I predicted, with utter confidence. "You'll be fine. Besides, you're just a kid. If you think about it, it's Grunkle Stan's fault." We both looked at each other. "Yeah, she's not gonna buy that for a second, is she?" Luz shook her head.

Luz reached over and kissed me on the cheek. "I'm really glad you're here, Amity. The truth is, I'm kind of scared."

"Airplane accidents are statistically rare," I pointed out. Airplanes, as you probably well know, are something of a special interest of mine. I probably know how they work better than everyone else aboard the plane except for maybe the pilot. But reading about them was nothing compared to the actual experience of being on the plane.

Luz looked confused for a second, and then gave a light laugh. "Oh, no! Not about that. I'm scared of what I'm going to find in New York. I'm worried it'll be another dead end…and I'm kind of worried it won't be. Know what I mean?"

I did. Aside from the fact that it'd put a target on our backs, there was also the problem that it would be very hard to make a case against Havik, even if we found evidence in New York. Havik was a powerful businessperson, just like my mother, with money and connections. We were just two kids, albeit ones that could do magic, and an old conman. What chance did we have?

"It'll be fine," I assured Luz, not sure if I meant it or not. "Remember, we can fix this together." Luz smiled, remembering how she had reassured me back when I freaked out about Grom. We've come so far since then. (Also, Luz still has no clue she was my Grom crush, which I should honestly not derive as much amusement from as I do.)

Luz moved her hands so that they were…whoa! They were heading towards the lower half of my body! "Luz!" I said, scandalized. "We're surrounded by people! Grunkle Stan is right next to you, for the Titan's sake!"

Luz let out a soft giggle. "Amity, I was just trying to help you with your seatbelt," she explained. I looked down and saw that a seatbelt, not terribly unlike the ones in cars, was indeed situated in my lap. "They're hard to fasten. I used to have trouble with them myself."

I was so embarrassed. Luz was just trying to do something nice for me and I misinterpreted it as something dirty. "Ugh. I'm never going to live this one down, am I?"

Luz planted a kiss on my cheek. "Nope! I won't tell Grunkle Stan, that's the best you'll get." I had a hunch he'd find out anyway somehow. Luz helped me buckle my seatbelt and then buckled her own.

"So you've done this before?" I asked her.

"Yeah," Luz said. "My grandparents lived in Florida. Dad's parents. They passed when I was eight. When Dad died…it just broke them. They couldn't go on. Other than seeing them, I haven't traveled much. Well, by air!"

I laughed. "We could take a gap year after we've graduated school," I suggested. "We could travel your world." Traveling my world was out of the picture, of course. Even though the Demon Realm was getting safer, it wasn't exactly safe enough for casual tourism. Money wouldn't be an issue, of course. Blight Industries was worth a ridiculously large amount of money. We could travel in the lap of luxury. No coach class for us!

Luz gasped in delight. "I love that idea! There's so many cool places we could go to!"

A video started playing on the screen in front of me. It was a video listing all the safety precautions that we had to follow in the event of an emergency. Luz didn't pay much attention to it, but I watched it with an eagle eye. If something happened, I wanted to be prepared. I think if I didn't know so much about planes now, I would be scared of flying. There was nothing but a bunch of metal separating me from falling to my death, after all. But I always felt safer when I knew things, and safety precautions were no different.

Not too long after that, the plane started moving, and my heart started beating heavily with excitement. The moment was nearing! I'd soon be in the air! Sure, I've flown before – who hasn't in the Demon Realm? – but this was different. This was on a plane! Maybe some would say it wasn't, but that made all the difference in the world to me.

The plane went down the runway and then…it was lifted up! I felt a strange sort of pressure on me that made my body think it was being pulled downwards, even though I was in exactly the same position. I felt like my ears were suddenly being stuffed up. It was very jarring.

And then I abruptly lost my hearing. "Luz, I can't hear!" I said frantically.

Luz said something, but I couldn't hear it. She smacked herself on the forehead, then put two fingers in her nose, kept her mouth firmly shut, and then exhaled as hard as she could. I followed her example, and then with a pop, my ears cleared up and I got my hearing back. "Sorry, I should have warned you," Luz said.

"Don't worry about it," I said. "I guess that's normal?"

"You got it more severely, because…" She motioned at my ears to indicate their witch nature. "But, yeah, pretty normal."

I looked out the window and I gasped. I could see the city of Portland. The cars on the roads looked astonishingly close at first – I was almost afraid that we'd crash into them – but then they got smaller and smaller. I looked out at the city and it was incredible. Portland made the city of Bonesborough look like a village in comparison – and it wasn't anywhere near as big as New York was going to be! According to my research, New York was the biggest city in the United States and among the biggest cities in the world. I could scarcely imagine what it'd look like.

After that, we climbed higher and higher. I wasn't able to make out a lot of features on the ground after that. Once we went into the clouds and I couldn't see anything, I shut the window. "That was absolutely the most amazing thing that I've ever experienced!" I gushed. "Luz, I had no idea it could be so cool!"

We had several hours until our plane landed. Occasionally, the staff would show up and offer drinks to the passengers. Luz tried to order coffee on the sly, but I shot that idea down immediately. Camila would be angry enough at us already without learning that Luz had gotten her hands on the drink she'd been long forbidden from drinking. Instead, Luz settled for two glasses of ginger ale, which she said would help settle her stomach.

We had fled Gravity Falls without packing any books for ourselves, so we decided to occupy the time by watching movies. First, we watched Rogue One. I'd watched all of the numbered Star Wars films with Luz over the course of the spring and summer. This one appeared to take place between Episodes III and IV. Honestly, I found it a little boring in the beginning. The second half was awesome, though. And seeing Luz's sheer enthusiasm at the final scene with Darth Vader made all the boring moments good.

After that, we watched a movie called Black Widow. Apparently, it was part of a larger series of films. Luz tried to explain everything about them to me, but her explanation was very convoluted and I didn't really get a ton of it. A few minutes into the movie, the staff started selling food to the customers. "Luz, wake up Grunkle Stan and see if he'll buy some food for us."

As soon as Luz's hand touched Grunkle Stan's shoulder, he awoke and shouted something in a language I didn't recognize. It definitely wasn't English or Spanish. "Hang on a second," he said slowly. "This isn't Minsk."

"Grunkle Stan, we're going to New York, remember?" Luz said gently.

"Of course I do," Grunkle Stan said gruffly. "What's up?"

Luz motioned at the staff members going through the airplane. Grunkle Stan got it immediately. "Oh, and I suppose you want me to shell out for this crappy airplane food?" he asked. Luz nodded, giving him one of her patented cute faces. "Okay, fine, but only cause I'm hungry too!"

I could see through this act right away, especially when Grunkle Stan splurged for some of the pricier foods on the menu for us. "Eh, it's not my money," he said in explanation.

The food that I got had vegetables and meat wrapped tightly in what looked like some sort of bread like material. It looked okay, but no more than that. I wouldn't exactly treat Luz to this food if we were on a date together, but it would suffice.

I took a bite and…oh my Titan, Diary. It was like an explosion of flavor in my mouth! It was one of the best things I've ever tasted! I didn't know that food could taste so good! It blew absolutely everything I've ever eaten before out of the water.

Grunkle Stan and Luz both looked at me as if I was crazy for enjoying it so much. "What the heck is wrong with you?" Grunkle Stan asked me bluntly. "This is airplane food! It sucks! It's, like, a law of the universe or something! No, I mean, literally, according to Ford. There's some sort of fancy pants scientific explanation for it."

"It's not a law of my universe," I said cheerfully, and then went on eating the tremendously tasty dish. Man, I had to fly on more airplanes just to get their food.

Luz shrugged. "More mysteries of your physiology, I guess," she said, and ate her own dish with a grimace on her face.

Once we were done eating, we returned to watching the movie. Black Widow turned out to be a kind of an action thriller. I didn't honestly get a lot of what was going on, but I liked the characters. I felt bad for them, too. I could empathize with them having their childhoods stolen away, even if they actually had a worse life than mine was. I could see Mother being very keen on the idea of having an army of mind controlled assassins under her control. I hope she didn't watch the movie and get any ideas.

Not too long after the movie was over, the plane started landing. I was glad too. Other than occasionally walking down the exceptionally cramped aisles on the way to the insultingly small bathroom, I've been stuck in a seat for several hours. I was looking forward to walking on solid ground.

The same thing happened to my ears while landing, but this time, it was accompanied by blinding pain. I was alarmed to see a few drops of blood slipping out of my hair and onto the seat. But I did the maneuver with the fingers in my nose to reduce the pressure and it seemed to help. The pain lessened and the bleeding stopped.

"Are you okay, pumpkin?" Grunkle Stan asked, sounding worried. I don't know how anyone falls for the uncaring act that he puts on. It's just so obvious that if anything, he cares too much.

"I'll be fine," I told him. "I think some fresh air might help."

"Well, you're not gonna get a lot of that when we get to Manhattan," Grunkle Stan joked. "Don't worry, kiddo. We'll get you outside soon enough. Just gotta pick up our luggage."

We eventually exited the plane and then after walking through yet another corridor, we were in another airport that really didn't look all that different from the one in Portland. I felt bone tired all of a sudden and a little dizzy as well. Grunkle Stan led us to the baggage claim, where bags were cycling around on this black surface set at an angle. Passengers were grabbing theirs when they spotted them. It took a long while for our own luggage to arrive, but once we got it, Grunkle Stan led us into the fresh air. I had been right. I did feel a bit better now.

"I already hired a car to take us to our hotel," he informed us. "Can't trust just any old taxi driver off the street. Last time I did that, I nearly got my head chopped off by an Albanian mafia boss."

He pointed to a battered car that looked in even worse shape than Grunkle Stan's own that was nearing the curve. A muscular man stepped out of the car.

"Stanley Pines?" the man asked us. Grunkle Stan nodded. "I am Igor. Boris sent me."