~~~~~~~~~Alyse's POV~~~~~~~~~

We all walked through the forest. It wasn't easy convincing Iv I was okay to leave the house, but knowing I'd be surrounding by the others, she agreed.

Leo and Dipper were ahead of us as we followed. I was a little behind, but Varian made sure I was at pace.

The farther we walked, the colder the air got, getting flashbacks of what happened earlier. I hugged myself, this time I wasn't alone, I'll be fine.

It wasn't long until I heard Mabel let out a gasp, and I looked up, my eyes widening at the sight.

Just like last night, the forest was gray and decayed; the floor was stone, and the trees were rotten logs without leaves, no water or animals anywhere.

"What the heck..?!" I heard Mabel say.

Leo turned to us, his arms crossed. "We were on our way to your house and saw all of this. We had to show you."

Varian was the first to walk over. "How come we saw it now?! It's such a large area, we should've at least heard about it before!"

"I don't know, there hasn't been any news about it." Dipper explained.

"Maybe it happened really recently." Mabel walked over to the other side, gently poking one of the withering trees. "I mean, V's right, we should've seen this place sooner."

"Guys.." We all turned to Snow, who fiddled with one of her pigtails. "Something feels really off.. Maybe we should leave this to the authorities.."

"Uh, have you met the authorities here? They couldn't give two shits about anything or anyone in this town!" Leo said in annoyance, obviously complaining about the police.

I couldn't really blame him, this town is strange for many reasons, and it gives everyone less responsibility when something goes wrong.

Snow flinched at his tone, shrinking a bit as she bit her lip. "S-Sorry, i- it was only-"

"Hey, cut it out, man." Dipper now stood in front of her, a small glare on his face. "Maybe she's got a point, we're not gods who can make things happen with the snap of a finger."

I know two people who can do that though.

There was a small light in the corner of my eye, making me look over to one of the leaf-less trees. I walked over, soon seeing it was a small pink cherry blossom growing from one of the branches.

I don't know what came over me, but I reached my hand over.

It was as if it was calling for me..

The poor thing..

However, I snapped back to reality as a thick layer of muck suddenly wrapped around my arm, forcing me to stay stuck against the tree. I screamed in surprise, hearing the others call for me as they ran over.

I tried pulling my arm away with all of my strength, the others pulling me back as well. Leo ran over to be beside the tree, suddenly forming a sharp dark sword out of thin air.

My eyes widened in fear. "W-WAIT!!"

"DUDE, ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Varian yelled, all of us figuring out what he planned to do.

"I know what I'm doing!!" He raised the sword over his head, which started glowing a dark aura before seeing it down.

I shut my eyes, expecting the worse, but only to hear a clean cut through the ear, then falling back as I was let loose.

We were now all on the ground, and I quickly looked down at my hand, which although a little pale, was still attached to me.

Thank God!

Leo walked over to us. "See? No harm done."

"Okay, explain!!!" Mabel stood up, looking at him straight in the eye. "Since when do you have wings and magic?!? Has this never been something brought up when I'm around or what?!?"

Varian helped me up as I spoke. "Yeah, just how much have you been keeping..?"

He thought for a moment, but just as he opened his mouth to speak, the ground began to shake.

Really roughly..

We could only stay frozen, but my blood ran cold as deep in the distance, a think crack made its way to us.

My eyes were wide, sweating and struggling to breath, panic overflowing through every part of my body.

There was not much we could do about this, except..

"EVERYONE, RUN!!!"

Trees and boulders began to fall through the new opening as we dashed to the green part of the forest, even as it followed behind us.

I noticed the path it was taking, it was going to town!

I can't let that happen!

The others had already made their way to safety, but at the last minute, I made the turn.

I had to stop it from destroying everything!

~~~~~~~~~Third Person POV~~~~~~~~~

Varian was the first to notice her sudden change in direction, his eyes growing wide. "ALYSE!!!"

She didn't look back, continuing to follow the line on the ground.

He was about to follow when Mabel grabbed his shoulder. "We can't go there!!"

"But-!! Sh-She could- she might-!!"

"She can take care of herself!" Leo replied.

Varian knee she could, but it was worrisome when something like this happened out of nowhere!

"Please be okay.."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She had reached the edge of the forest and town, the cracks already going through the border. Standing in front of it as it zoomed over, she felt the strong pulse of energy gathering at her fingertips.

Alyse has never used magic that was that powerful, but in times like these, it was better to try.

An orb floating between her hands, a mix of pink and gold as she raised her arms, letting it grow. The crack was just at her toes, when she bawled when hands into fists, the now giant orb sinking into the ravine that had forced.

Slowly but surely, the gap began to close, even to the very end.

People left their house, cheering for what she had done. A hero had saved their lives in their eyes.

But no..

Something was still off, about everything..

She could feel it..

Even as her body began to shut down from the lack of energy..

Even when the darkness and cold began to cover her..

Thanks for reading!!! 'Till next time!!!

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