"Alright, boys. Bedtime - far past that." Elizabetta said, walking into the living room. She was in a simple black nightgown, and her hair was tied in a braid. William looked at her pleadingly. "One more story, Mama! Please?"

Miraculously, Elizabetta managed to resist the puppy eye. "No, no. Bedtime, sweetie." She said, walking over and picking up William from the floor. "I'll show you your room. I'll manifest you individual ones tomorrow. I'm just tired..." She trailed off for a moment, not wanting her children to know that she was tired from all the crying she'd been doing.

Zace nodded. "It's fine, Mother. I'm sure we all are." He assured, following as Elizabetta led them to a different room. She brought them to a bedroom with three beds and a wardrobe. "Goodnight, my dears." She said, putting William down in one of the beds. William scrambled into the sheets and fell asleep almost immediately.

The other two went to their beds, clearly exhausted from the traveling. Elizabetta looked once more at her sons, the crow's feet on her eye curling as she smiled. "Sweetest dreams..."

With that, the mother walked off to her own room.

There was a moment of silence.

"Zace, are you awake?"

Said demon sat up, looking to Ben's bed. "Yea, what is it?" He asked, whispering so as to not wake the youngest of them.

Ben smiled, crawling out of the bed and depositing him onto the floor. Zace tilted his head curiously as his brother patted the floor in front of him. "I wanna talk about something." He whispered.

Zace shrugged, thinking, 'Why not? I don't mind staying awake.' He was soon on the floor, looking across to Ben.

"What was that princess like?" He asked. Zace blinked a few times in confused surprise.

The red-clad one smiled a bit. "Ben, you heard me telling Will about her." He sighed. Ben shrugged, smiling. "Come on, it seems like you enjoy talking about her."

"Fine, fine, maybe I do." Zace said, laughing quietly. Ben raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" He leaned forward, though it was a little difficult to see him in the night. With his dark blue and black clothes, hair, and dark skin, he looked like a part of midnight. Zace thought that he looked a bit goth with his hair covering one of his eyes, though he knew why his brother did so.

"She has dark skin, and long, black-and-brown hair. She has these beautiful brown eyes... and she just... she has this wonderful laugh and this gentle manner where she can just... she can calm down anyone from a panic attack." Zace leaned back on the bedpost.

"She's amazing. She likes dandelions, and she made the guards let me out so she could show me the gardens. She loves birds and she can dance so beautifully." He stared up at the ceiling for a moment.

"What's her name?" Ben asked, a smile spreading across his face.

"Benita. Benita Demi..." There was a dazed look in Zace's eye that Ben recognized.

"You're in love."

Zace suddenly snapped out of his dazed trance and looked at Ben. "N- I mean- yea- I think- probably." He sputtered, attempting to make sense.

"Have you..." Ben paused dramatically. "Kissed?"

The older one shook his head, laughing under his breath. "No, no, she always has a veil or fan over her mouth. I think it has something to do with being a ghost and mortal wounds, something like that."

Ben nodded, smiling still. Zace narrowed his eye at his brother. "And what about you? Have you met anyone you like?" He asked, smiling teasingly.

Ben flushed, laughing nervously. "Well, yea, I've been wanting to ask him on a date for a while now. Just don't know where we'd go."

Zace leaned forward excitedly. "What's he like?" He asked. Ben smiled.

"His name is Spruce. He's a forest spirit. Well, more like some branches and leaves that were brought to life."

Zace stared at his brother for a moment. "You're attracted to a tree-boy?"

"Absolutely. I mean, when he's not a tree, he is quite pretty."

"He can turn into a tree?"

"Yep. He's also very tall. Like, I adore him, but he's annoyingly tall."

Zace raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're not just short?" He asked.

Ben shot his brother a playful glare. "He's 6 foot. And he's fourteen, too. I think the whole tree-thing makes him grow a lot taller." He explained. Zace nodded. "I see."

The older yawned, running his fingers through his dark red locks. "Well, I'm gonna sleep. You should, too, bud." He said, standing up and crawling back into bed. Ben nodded, saying, "Yea, sure. It's been a long d-"

From the hallway, a knock came from the front door. Since the bedroom was close to the living room, they could hear. "Who was that?" Zace whispered, his voice low with seriousness. Ben was silent, but stood up. "Stay with William. I'm going to get Mom." He said. Zace tried to protest, but William shifting in his bed, nearly waking, quieted him.

Ben, careful as a burglar, snuck out of the room and went to his mother's room. He crept up to the bed and shook Elizabetta awake. "Mom, Mom, there's people here." He whispered. The woman shot up, looking at her son. "Who? Who's here?" She whisper-yelled.

"I don't know." Ben responded, trying to not sound nervous. Elizabetta flung off her sheets and rushed to the front door.

~~~

"Mabel, where exactly are we going?" Dipper asked. His twin picked at her nails, a nervous habit she'd developed over the year.

She looked at her brother and sighed. "You don't feel the weird-magic-feeling-thing, do you?" She asked. Dipper hesitated, then shook his head.

Dipper looked up at the sky, feeling the leaves crunch beneath his feet. "Haven't you been saying that you wanted to go on an adventure of your own? Why did you tell me when you could've gone by yourself, being the only one that felt it and all?" He asked.

Mabel looked at her eyes misty with thought. "Dipper, it's kind of like when I told you about my crush on Candy; I feel like I can trust you with anything... and," she turned away. "I'm kind of scared that no one else would really get it. Get me."

He knit his brown in confusion. "What do you mean? Mabel, everywhere you go, people like you. Who wouldn't at least try to understand you?"

"Dipper..." Mabel stopped walking, shoving her hands in her skirt's sewn-in pockets. "People back home don't like me. They like the thought of being friends with me."

She looked up at the stars, watching the Big Dipper gleam in the sky. "If they really looked closer and knew me, I bet you they'd much rather be friends with the less-crazy, less-annoying twin."

Dipper stared at his sister for a moment. The last time he'd seen her so emotionally vulnerable with him was in the bubble during Weirdmageddon. And he really didn't need another reminder of that.

Mabel sighed, wrapping up her thoughts. "I guess that's another reason why I didn't want last summer to end. It wasn't just because I was scared of growing up."

She looked at her. Though she tried to keep her composure, it was clear to Dipper she was holding back tears.

"Gravity Falls was a blank page for me. No one here knew me, and no one heard of me from my stupid popularity back home. Here, people liked me for me. I just didn't want to lose that - the feeling that I was... I dunno, good enough for people to li-"

Dipper suddenly hugged his sister, cutting her off. "You're always good enough. I... I get it. But, I promise, we're sticking together. Forever."

Quietly, Mabel hugged her brother back. There was silence for a moment, then, the two patted each others' backs. The twins broke out into small laughs, easing the previous tension. "Thanks, Dipper," Mabel said, pulling away from her brother. "Of course; you're my sister, and I can't have you feeling alone like that." He responded.

He suddenly noticed something in the distance. "Is that a cottage?" He asked, pointing to the thing ahead. Mabel squinted, feeling a rush of strange power hover around the structure. "That's it." She said.

"That's where you feel that weird presence?" He asked. Mabel nodded. "Absolutely." She responded. Dipper sighed, pulling the flaps of his hat. "Alright then, let's go knock or something." He said, attempting to seem brave. The two headed to the door and, with great hesitation, Dipper knocked.

~~~

Elizabetta stared at the door, praying to the Axolotl that she wasn't in any danger. She'd told Ben to stay in her room. There was no way in hell that she was putting her sons in harm's way.

"Who's there?" She demanded, her voice echoing past the door and into the woods.

Whoever was on the other side seemed to be startled by that. There was silence for a moment. Just as Elizabetta was about to call out again, a voice answered, "We don't mean any harm."

Elizabetta narrowed her eye at the door, though no one could see her. "And why should I believe what you say?" She was trying to sound intimidating, but her voice shook with fear.

"My name is Dipper Pines. I'm with my sister, Mabel. She said that she felt power around your cottage. We just wanted to see what- who it was."

"Yea, it's really not like we could hurt you that much." The other voice, apparently Mabel, added. The girl knew she was speaking truthfully. After all, they'd only managed to banish Bill Cipher, and this power reminded her of him.

"Who I am is of no importance to you. If you must know, I am a Dream Demon from the fallen Dream Dimension. We... We're practically an extinct race. I don't think you could have ever heard of us."

The girl's voice spoke up again. "Yea, we have!" There was an excited astonishment in her tone. The boy whispered her name, trying to quiet her; like it was a secret not to be spoken.

Elizabetta paused for a moment, her fixed stare at the door becoming hazed with confusion. "You... you've what?" She asked, her voice wavering.

"Yea, his name is Bill Cipher!"

Suddenly, Elizabetta swung open the door, her eye wide. "YOU JEST!?" She screamed, wind billowing at her command. In front of her were two children, twins. But she was too shocked to care.

The two stumbled back in surprise, the wind only fighting them to be pulled closer. Stars and moonlight dimmed, almost plunging the two into darkness.

However, the two could see pain in the demon's eye. "We-we're not kidding around!" Dipper shouted, his eyes watering from the dust being blown mindlessly. "Tall demon! Wears yellow! Takes the form of a Dorito!" Mabel yelled out, needing to practically scream to be heard.

As soon as the winds picked up, they settled. The stars and Moon began glowing once more. The demon in front of them stared, her night-black eye misty with thought. "He... He is here, isn't he?" She whispered. The twins nodded vigorously. Elizabetta stared at the rising Sun, her hands shaking ever-so-slightly. "I must get my sons. I need to see him."

She turned to wake up the boys, but Dipper stopped her for a moment, a realization hitting him. "You- you know Bill? Who are you?" He asked, though he was sure he had an idea.

A gentle smile crossed the woman's face, sharply contrasting with the fierce aggression the twins saw just moments ago. "I'm Elizabetta Cipher. I'm his wife."