Hours had gone by. The three of us had mostly sat in the room in silence, not knowing what to say or do in a situation like this..

(y/n) was the most quiet, for obvious reasons, and though I tried my best to comfort her, I could see it wasn't working well..

Mabel hadn't given up yet, she still checked every inch of this room for anything, any clue, any exit, any weapon that could beat the door down, anything at all. So far, nothing had come up, and I was starting to lose hope.

However, we all perked up when we heard the door start to open from the outside. (y/n) quickly stood in front of Mabel and I protectively, a glare on her face. I noticed her relax a little when a familiar face stood behind the door.

Well, I say 'face', but I couldn't see their face to begin with.

The creature from before, who had been called Death of all things, held the door open. "I apologize for my late arrival, I've had to make sure I stay hidden."

"Spooky..!" Mabel whispered as she peeked over (y/n)'s shoulder.

(y/n) raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here? If my father finds out, he'll-!"

"I've already been through everything, Miss, I don't mind my punishment for helping you escape."

A smile grew on her face. "You're an angel, Death!"

He walked over to the opposite wall and pulled out a skeleton design key, which easily stabbed through the wall and formed a door. (y/n) grabbed both Mabel's and my wrists, leading us out the door.

We now stood in a black and gray decayed forest, with a blood red sky above us, and a hazy purple lake in front of us, an old boat in front of us.

The man in the dark cloak handed the key to (y/n), then nodded to the boat. "Reach the end of the river and insert the key into the mountain, it should lead you back to Gravity Falls."

Mabel grabbed his hand, which was also just literal bones, and shook it with a bright smile. "Thank you so much!!"

"You're welcome, now go, before he finds out." With that, he went back through the door, which disappeared soon after.

I looked at the river, and a nervous chill went up my spine. Giving a small rock in front of me a kick, I saw it fall into the river. Or more so, completely melt in the river.

Gripping my arm, I shuddered. "We'll have to be very careful.."

"Well, it's the only way we have to leave.." (y/n) climbed onto the boat, and I followed behind, both of us helping Mabel on board.

Without any signal or sign, the boat began to move on its own with the current. Surprisingly enough, it was smooth and steady, barely any bumps as we sailed along. Everything around us was dead and destroyed, the trees had no leaves, and the trunks seemed like they could turn to ashes by a single touch.

Only the corpses of animals remained around, but their was no odor around. Actually, there was no smell in general.

I stood by the edge of the boat, scanning everything around me. "What is this place..?"

"The world of Decay, Death has told me about this place, it's how he travels everywhere so fast." (y/n) explained as she stood next to me. "I've never been here myself though.."

"We seem to be reaching the mountains pretty quickly, so we should be out soon.."

A few minutes went by with us in silence, and I noticed her slightly gripping the edge of the boat with a worried look on her face. I gently placed my hand over hers, making her look at me, and I tried to give her the best smile I could have.

"Hey.. we're gonna be okay.. we're gonna go home.."

"... I know.. I just.." She let out a sigh, resting her head on my shoulder. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this.. I always knew Bill would capture me at some point, but.. I didn't have the time to warn you when the time came.. And I didn't want to tell you before because.."

She paused, but I already knew the answer. "You didn't want me to worry.. You just wanted to live normally.."

With a nod, she gently tangled her fingers with mine, and I rested my head on hers. "I'm just glad you're all okay.. I'm sorry I've been gone for so long.."

"I'm glad you're okay.. You're the one who went missing.." I raised both of our hands as the held each other, placing a kiss over her knuckles, noticing her cheeks grow pink. "And I'm so relieved to see you again.. To see you alive.."

She smiled, snuggling against my neck. "You know I wouldn't give up that easily.."

"I was still worried.."

We were about to share a kiss, when we were interrupted by a sudden flash behind us, seeing Mabel holding her camera with a bright smile. "I haven't had a scrapbookatunity in so long, I had to!"

I rolled my eyes with a smile, hearing (y/n) laugh a bit. In a situation like this, it's difficult to find a moment of peace and happiness.

Right now, all we needed was each other..

...

But the moment didn't last long. We were all frightened when we began to feel a pattern of thumping in the ground, almost like footsteps, followed by a loud roar echoed from within the forest.

I knew things couldn't be so easy..

I am so sorry that this episode took so long to post! 😭
I have no excuse for it, I just kinda forgot this book existed, but I hope you enjoy the return of it!

Again, I'm sorry for the wait, and always, 'till next time!!!

❤️❤️❤️