JANUARY 27, 2013

It was finally time to go home.

The Symbols stood together in the Manor's plush sitting room. ("With actual places to sit," Pacifica said, glancing at Ford with a small smile.) The coffee table had been moved to have a big enough place for them to stand. They'd chosen this room, as opposed to a bigger area like the ballroom, to have some peace and quiet as they formed the Wheel. Andrew and Moira were there, but they sat quietly and let the Symbols do their thing.

Everyone was still tired. It was the third day after they had defeated Bill. The last two days had been busy with the plans and the broadcast and everything, but there had still been enough time for the Symbols to rest and feel a little better. So although they were still tired, they all agreed that they had enough energy to try the Wheel again. The Wheel's magic would be enough to get the township home, now that the Symbols had a little more strength.

They got into a circle. They all had some form of a smile on their faces — even Ford, who hadn't smiled since the battle three days ago. The anticipation of seeing the sun again was enough to make anyone happy.

The Symbols grasped hands. The colorful glow appeared.

They didn't have Bill to focus on anymore. But the idea of getting home — a positive idea — was much more inviting than the thought of the demon. The Symbols found it easy to merge their minds.

The Wheel blossomed into being.

Home, they thought. Home. The Wheel knew that their existence would end after this. They knew that this was the last part of their mission: to get the township back home. They weren't sad that they'd be gone. Their power wasn't meant to last forever, and they were okay with that, as long as they were able to finish everything they had to do.

They knew exactly how to get the township home. Their view zoomed out as they considered multiple dimensions and how to travel through them. It was immense power that they held. It allowed them to see outside the township, to see outside each universe.

They were shocked — and a little horrified — to discover just how close they were to Bill's dimension. Two dimensions: That's all that stood between the dimension the township was currently in and the dimension that had been its nightmarish destination. Bill's dark magic had taken them much further than they'd ever imagined. Out of thousands of dimensions they'd traveled, that was how close they'd gotten.

No more. No closer. The Wheel turned the township around and pointed it through the sea of dimensions toward home.

And they pushed.

Their power sent the township through the dimensions. They had a long way to go — a lot of energy was needed for the spell — but they could do it. Their minds brought up the image of a large sail atop the forest, which the Wheel blew on to send the township through the dimensional waters. It was a fun visual representation of their incomprehensible power. The Wheel liked it.

They blew. And blew. And blew.

Dimension after dimension. Gone in a flash. Someone standing outside in Gravity Rises would see the sky swapping stars multiple times a second. The Wheel kept blowing, never tiring, and the township kept sailing through the skies.

We should probably stop before we actually get to our dimension, they thought. We don't know what things are like there; we don't want to just reappear without checking first. After all, what if there are people in the crater? We'd bury them.

So the Wheel monitored the dimensions as they passed them. Soon they could sense the township's home dimension, far off in the distance. They watched it grow closer and closer, and slowed the township in preparation to stop.

There it was. The last dimension before home. The Wheel pulled back and stopped the township in the adjacent dimension. The stars here were tiny pinpricks of red, casting very little light. Those down below must be confused as to what was happening.

Leaving the township where it was, the Wheel hopped between dimensions. Their vision filled with the Oregon landscape, far below. A deep yearning cried out within them.

Almost. Not yet. Let's check things out first.

The Wheel zoomed in. The snow-covered trees got bigger and bigger. And there it was: the crater where Gravity Rises was supposed to be. It was miles in diameter, in the shape of a huge, perfect circle. The Wheel got closer.

And there were the people.

Tents in the crater. Cars and news vans on the street. People bustling in and out of the tents, or trying to get an interview for a news story, or just sitting on benches that someone had put around the crater. There were so many people.

It was a really good thing the Wheel hadn't just barged in with a whole forest, then.

They scanned the crowd. They had to get those people to move out of the crater. How could they do that? Could they telepathically communicate with them?

They thought about this for a moment. But then they stopped as something caught their attention. The Wheel. . . they recognized some of these people.

They were people the Symbols knew! There was Eleanor Pleasure, standing beneath one of the tents. And there were Camille and Samuel Pines, sitting on one of the benches. And next to them was—

"Evi!"

In a rather uncomfortable flash, the Wheel was torn apart. Each mind suddenly returned to its body. Mabel blinked. What—?

"Evi! That's Evi! She's there!"

It was Gideon. Screaming — but not in pain or fear. Crying — but not in sadness. A river of tears had suddenly appeared on his face. "Everly! Evi!"

It seemed his legs couldn't hold him anymore. Gideon stumbled away from the Symbols and collapsed on the floor, not even bothering to sit on one of the many chairs. His shouts had turned to loud sobs. Mabel was alarmed at the volume of water coming out of his eyes.

The Symbols looked at each other in uncertainty, but Grunkle Lee seemed to know what to do. He left the circle and sat beside Gideon, pulling him close. "I know," Lee said as Gideon buried his head in Lee's shirt. There were tears in Lee's eyes too. "I saw her. We all saw her. She's there."

"Lincoln. . . Lincoln, it's Evi. . . . She's there. . . . She's. . . she's alive. . . ."

"Mom and Dad were there too, Mabel, did you see?" said Dipper.

Of course she had seen — she'd been part of the magical hivemind too. But she didn't care to correct Dipper; instead, she ran to him and gave him a hug. "They're waiting for us," she said, feeling her own tears start to fall.

"And my grandmother," said Pacifica quietly. "My. . . my grandmother was there." The tone of her voice was some mixture of surprise and relief. Fidds put his arms around her, and she let out a staggered breath.

Mabel and Dipper and Pacifica were crying, relieved and excited to catch a glimpse of their family. But Gideon was a sobbing mess of tears and unintelligible words and white hair flattened against Lee's shirt. Mabel put aside her thoughts about her parents for a moment and watched Gideon cry. That had been his sister. Right there, sitting next to Mabel's parents. Everly Grace. Gideon's sister. The person he'd said was dead.

She wasn't dead. She was outside Gravity Rises, waiting for her brother.

Mabel realized she had a huge smile on her face.

Nobody seemed to know when Gideon would stop crying. Gradually, the Symbols sat down on the couches and chairs, watching. Waiting. Mabel wanted to go sit by Gideon, but Lee had that covered. So she sat beside Dipper, who hugged her happily every few seconds.

Poor Andrew had no idea what was going on, so Melody explained to him. Ford asked him if the Wheel could speak telepathically to the people in the crater and tell them to get out.

"I'm not sure," Andrew admitted. "But the Wheel should know."

"I know." Gideon looked up, having heard Andrew. "I know what the Wheel needs to do."

"You do?" said Ford.

Gideon nodded. "Don't you? We'll be able to talk to her. Everly. We can talk to her telepathically, putting my voice first so she'll recognize me—"

"Can we do that?" Ford interrupted. "I thought we were all equal when we were in the Wheel."

"It's possible. I can feel it," Gideon said. "We'll be able to put my voice first. We'll talk to Evi, tell her to get everyone out of the crater. She knows about magic; she'll respond to us."

Ford frowned, but Lee nodded. "I think that'll work," Lee said. He looked at Gideon. "Do you think you can form the Wheel again, then?"

"I. . . I don't know. Not yet," Gideon said. "Can. . . can someone go get my mother?"

They all glanced at each other. Then, "I can," Moira said. "I've been talking to her. I know what she looks like."

Gideon stayed sitting by Lee, though he didn't bury his face in Lee's shirt again, and he wasn't sobbing anymore. But now, Mabel realized, he was shaking. "I don't know what's wrong with me," Gideon said to Lee, "but I can't stop."

"It's okay," Lee said, hugging Gideon tightly. "It's a shock. A good shock, but still."

Gideon nodded. "She's alive, Lincoln," he whispered.

A few minutes later, Moira returned with Geneva behind her. "Gideon, what is it?" Geneva said, sounding worried.

"Mother," Gideon said, his voice wet with fresh tears. He got to his feet and went to her, pulling her close in a hug.

"What is it?" Now Geneva's voice was definitely alarmed.

"It's okay. It's great. We. . ." Gideon took a deep, shuddering breath. "Mom, we saw Everly."

Geneva gasped. "Grace?" she whispered.

"Yes. She's there. We saw her, when we were the Wheel. She's sitting right outside the place where the town should be, waiting for us." Gideon could hardly get the words out, but he did.

Geneva gave her own sob. "Grace," she said.

Geneva and Gideon hugged each other tightly for a long time. Mabel hadn't thought about how, when Gideon had lost a sister, Geneva had lost a daughter.

"We're almost there," Gideon said. "We're not back yet, but we're going to form the Wheel again and talk to Evi. She's going to help us clear the area."

"Well," Geneva said, laughing through her tears, "don't let me stop you."

Gideon nodded. He gave his mother another quick hug, then turned back to the Symbols. "Okay. Let's do this."

Less than a minute later, the Wheel was back. And just like Gideon had said, they knew they could contact Grace, and they thought they could probably make it sound like it was only Gideon, too. Or at least make Gideon's voice the loudest. Ford was right that each Symbol was an equal part of the Wheel, but that didn't mean they couldn't do something like Gideon's idea if they needed to.

They returned to the other dimension, zooming in until they found Grace. She looked so. . . forlorn. Anxious, but also bored. Scared, but also tired.

Everly, the Wheel said.

She frowned.

Everly, the Wheel said again, more forcefully.

Grace sat up straight, her eyes wide.

"Grace? What's wrong?" asked Samuel.

Grace didn't answer. She got to her feet and looked around, peering through the trees. "G-Gideon?" she said.

Yes! Evi, it's me. It's Gideon.

Grace turned in a circle, but of course could see nothing. I'm talking to you telepathically, the Wheel said, using only Gideon's voice. I'm in your head, Evi.

"H-how?" Grace said.

The Cipher Wheel, they said. I'm actually the Cipher Wheel — ten Symbols joined together in a spell — but Gideon is one of the Symbols. We're talking to you as if we're him.

"Really?" Grace asked.

"Grace, who are you talking to?" Camille asked.

"It's—" Grace shook her head in disbelief. "I think it's my brother. Gideon? Where are you? Where is Gravity Rises?"

We're in another dimension. But we can see into this dimension. Grace, we want to bring the town back. We want to come home.

Grace reached out and grabbed Sam's arm. "They're coming back!" she said.

We can't yet, the Wheel said. We don't want to bring the town in on top of anyone. You have to clear out the crater.

Grace's eyes widened. "But. . . there are so many people."

We know. We need you to get them out.

"They won't listen to me. I've been trying to tell them about magic, but they don't listen."

They have to listen. We don't want anyone to get hurt. You have to get them out.

Grace looked overwhelmed. "I. . . I don't know if I can."

Try. Tell Eleanor to help you — she's good at getting people to do what she wants.

A small laugh. "That's true." Grace turned to Sam and Camille. "Okay, this is going to sound crazy, but you have to believe me."

The Wheel wanted to talk telepathically to Sam and Camille, too, to prove to them that they were there. But they couldn't, for some reason. Maybe they could talk to Grace because she'd bonded with the amulet as a child — she had been close with magic. But Sam and Camille hadn't been.

Thankfully, Sam and Camille seemed to believe Grace when she told them about the Wheel and the need to get everyone out of the crater. "That's going to take hours," Camille said.

Tell her that's okay, the Wheel said to Grace. We can wait. But hurry. Everyone here wants so badly to come home.

"I bet," Grace whispered. "He says they can wait," she said to the Pines, "but they want it to happen as fast as possible."

"Let's get to it, then," Sam said. "We'll go tell Dr. Pleasure first."

They left the bench and started down into the crater. "Gideon," Grace said under her breath, "can you stay with me? The whole time? Or does your spell not last that long?"

The Wheel thought about that. It took surprisingly little energy to project themselves into another dimension like this, even though it would be nearly impossible for anyone else to manage. We think we can stay, they said.

"Good," Grace said. Tears came to her eyes. "Oh, Gideon, I'm — I'm going to see you again."

Yes, the Wheel said. Gideon was going to have some important questions for his sister. But the Wheel wasn't Gideon — or, not just Gideon — so they could stay focused on the task at hand.

Grace and the Pines went over to Ellie and explained things to her. She was surprised, but she still believed them immediately. And she was willing to help them spread the news.

The Wheel watched as Grace, Sam, Camille, and Ellie all went from tent to tent, saying things like, "Everyone! We have to get out of the crater now. The town is coming back. If we're not out of here, it'll bury us in an instant."

"How on earth do you know that?" people invariably asked.

"I just know," they replied. "Start getting packed. There's time to get your equipment out safely, but not time to delay."

Word quickly spread, but nobody seemed really convinced. "There's no way you can know that they're coming," people said. "You're just trying to sabotage our research."

With some arguing, Grace and the others managed to convince a few people to just do it — after all, the consequences of staying and being crushed were far less than the consequences of leaving and being pranked — but most people just laughed them off.

Finally, Ellie found a bullhorn from somewhere and gave it to Grace. "Tell them. Tell everyone."

"What? Why me?"

"You're the one hearing voices in your head. You're the one who really knows."

Do it, the Wheel urged her. Tell them you magically know that we're just outside this dimension, holding back, but we need to come in soon. You don't have to say you're hearing voices — that might make you seem more crazy.

"Yes, thank you, Gideon and whoever else is in my head," Grace muttered.

She took the bullhorn from Ellie and a deep breath from her lungs. "Listen, everyone! The town is coming back. The town and the forest and the many tons of dirt underneath. You have to get everything out of the crater. I'm sure you think I'm crazy, but I just know the town is returning soon. And besides — isn't it better to evacuate and find out I'm wrong than to stay here and find out I'm right?"

There seemed to be a collective sigh among the scientists and other people in the crater. The Wheel thought people were starting to listen, but they sure were being petulant about it.

Then— "Okay, people, pack it up. Do what she says." It was Officer Sanders, the police officer on the scene.

A few people grumbled — no one directly talked back to the officer, but there was some definite defiance. "Look, do you want to die?" Officer Sanders demanded. "Like she said, the smartest thing right now is to act like she's right."

"Okay, well, how long do we have?" someone demanded of Grace.

"What's the fastest you can be out?" Grace asked.

"I don't know — two hours, maybe? We have some delicate equipment, and we can't bring the truck down here, so—"

"Two hours, then. That's how long you have."

They probably won't be out in two hours, the Wheel said. But that was still a good call, giving a deadline like that. We don't want to be waiting all day.

"Yeah, well, you might be," Grace whispered.

It wasn't quite all day, but it was definitely longer than two hours. The vans and trucks and everything else were crammed on a single country road, and people had to haul things up the steep incline of the crater. The Wheel watched for a bit, then told Grace they were going to leave and let the others know what was going on. Back at the Manor, Andrew was happy to hear that people were leaving the crater, though he was understandably disappointed that they would be waiting for longer to get home.

"Andrew, we saw the sun," Dipper said. "I mean, I don't think the Wheel has eyes, but still. The sun is out today. It'll be there for us when we get back."

"If we get back before sunset," Melody said.

But they did. After a while, the Wheel returned to check on everyone, and they were almost completely out of the crater. It was still afternoon.

The single road leading to Gravity Rises was burdened with vehicles and people. It seemed that more people had arrived since the Wheel had last been here; the whole world must know by now that Gravity Rises was allegedly returning. Even Soos Ribera, the bus driver, had come. And the people who had already been there couldn't leave, because of other cars in the way — and nobody really wanted to leave, anyway. They all wanted to see the town return. If it did.

Everybody watched the crater. About a dozen cameras were trained on it, too. Finally, the last person climbed out onto the road, and the crater was empty.

"So?" someone said. "Is the town coming?"

"This is ridiculous," someone else said. "You told us two hours. It's been longer than that. You're just messing with all of us — pulling some kind of prank."

"No," Grace said. She was one of the closest people to the crater, with a few feet between her and the edge. "No, it's going to come back." She didn't say anything to the Wheel, but they could guess that she was mentally begging them to come.

So they got into position, though they kept an eye on Grace.

"Well, I think you just wasted all of our time," someone said, and took a step forward.

"No!" Grace threw her arms out. "Stop! They're coming!"

And at that moment, the Wheel blew Gravity Rises back into place. It reappeared behind Grace for all the people — and cameras — to see.

Everyone gasped. Or screamed.

Grace whirled around. "It — it's here! Gideon, you're here!"

Yes, the Wheel said happily. We're here. Then — Wait, Grace, don't—

Too late. Grace and a few other people had run toward the town, and hit the invisible wall straight on. "Ow! What the—?"

Sorry. We should've told you. You can't get into town.

"Why not?"

Magic mumbo jumbo. Someone will explain. But for now — we're getting really tired. The spell can't hold for long now that it's done what it needs to do.

"Right. Of course. Gideon?"

Yeah?

"Come see me. Come over here and see me."

Of course, Evi.

And with that, the Wheel had no more energy. They'd used the last of their power to get the township home. They looked down at the town, noting some ridges of earth that had formed as the islands were forced back together in a split second. But those ridges didn't really matter. The township was back — that's what mattered.

Content, the Wheel faded away for the last time.