"Hey, what are you muttering about?" Heekapoo asked.
"Could he have gone crazy too?" Marco asked as well.
"Alright, I have an idea." Kaito ignored their murmurs and explained his plan. "I'll restore the crown to its original state with one of my abilities."
"You have an ability like that? Then why didn't you use it earlier?" Heekapoo asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.
"Let's just say I forgot. My ability makes me omnipotent for thirty seconds, enough time to restore the crown to its original state and make the wish."
"Omnipotence? Then why..."
"It has a very small area limit, only one kilometer. Besides, it only works within this universe itself, I can't use it to leave. Don't you think I would've already escaped if it worked?" Kaito interrupted, already knowing what she was about to ask.
"I don't know. From everything I've seen so far, you're an incredibly strange person" Heekapoo said with a shrug.
"Whatever." Kaito decided to ignore her and immediately activated Omnipotence.
Other than Kaito, nobody noticed anything unusual. Nobody knew that everything within the area was under Kaito's absolute control for the next thirty seconds.
With a wave of his hand, the crown returned to its original form, an exquisite five pointed golden crown. It had a larger central point than the others at the front, with three brilliant red gems embedded in it.
After restoring it, Kaito quickly placed the crown on his head. Before Omnipotence, its inherent mental corruption was so weak that Kaito didn't even feel it.
Finally, he formed the wish in his mind.
To leave this place, a portal that would take them out, or an ability that would let them escape. The important part was leaving, the method didn't matter.
Suddenly, the crown on his head began trembling violently while the space around it seemed to shake along with it.
Kaito grabbed the crown and threw it several dozen meters away.
"Get back" he told the others before quickly retreating.
"What happened?!"
"Did it work?!"
The two of them asked.
Meanwhile, on the ground, the crown stopped trembling. A small light blue sphere formed at the center of its points, then rapidly expanded until it was at least twenty meters in diameter.
For the first time since they had existed, the clouds in the sky changed. They became dark, filled with lightning and snow, before stretching out and beginning to rotate around the entire vertical area above the sphere, leaving an empty cylinder in the center as if they were expecting something.
And they were.
Suddenly, the sphere changed. A massive light blue beam shot upward from it into the sky, piercing through everything in its path and even freezing the sky itself as though it were a physical object.
"What's happening?" Marco asked as he watched.
"It didn't work" Kaito replied with some disappointment.
"It didn't? But..."
"It didn't work. The crown can alter reality, normally there wouldn't be any need for all this spectacle" Kaito interrupted before explaining. "Just like me, the crown has no effect outside this universe. When it realized altering reality wouldn't work, it gathered all its power and launched an attack at the very boundary of the dimension, trying to destroy it."
As Kaito explained this, he never stopped staring at the sky.
Above them, the frozen sky continued spreading farther and farther until the temperature throughout the cemetery itself dropped well below freezing.
But that was the end of it. The next instant the beam disappeared and the temperature gradually returned to normal, while the crown reverted to its already used state.
Marco walked over, picked up the crown, and spun it on one finger.
"Looks like it didn't work after all" he said.
"So that's it? We wasted all our time?" Heekapoo complained irritably.
"No. We still have another option" Kaito denied, immediately drawing both of their attention.
"How?"
"Let's go back to our original goals, both of them. Finding Star and going to the last island.
Once we reset the crown again, we'll wish for it to bring Star directly to us" Kaito explained.
"Can't you just use that ability again?"
Kaito shook his head. "I won't be able to use it again for another month."
"Then why don't we just wait here quietly until then?" Heekapoo asked tiredly. She had done more over the past few days than during all the previous years she had spent in the cemetery.
"No, I need to get out of here as soon as possible" Kaito refused immediately.
Heekapoo sighed helplessly, remembering their earlier conversation and understanding why he wanted to return.
"Ah, youth. I was like that too when I first got here.
Alright, let's go, but if anything happens, I'll be the first one to open a portal and run."
"You won't."
"Marco, when did you become so annoying? I swear I'll leave you behind."
...
"Here we are."
"Yeah. The most mysterious and dangerous island, the one nobody ever leaves once they enter, and one that no sane person would ever approach. Yet here we are. Why? Because I'm with two lunatics" Heekapoo said.
"Because it's the key to finding the love of my life" Marco corrected.
"Right, of course, I forgot. That makes you much less insane" Heekapoo rolled her eyes sarcastically.
"By the way, how much time has passed since we left for this place?" Kaito asked.
"A week. Why?"
"I feel like time passes faster whenever we're traveling from one island to another."
"When you're traveling between islands, when you're in the air, and when you close your eyes" Heekapoo clarified.
"You knew that the whole time?"
"Yep."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"You didn't ask."
"..."
Kaito fell silent for a few seconds, while Heekapoo simply looked back at him with a confused expression, as though she genuinely had no idea what she had done wrong.
"You're pretty annoying."
"I'm a demon after all, or at least I look like one."
"I'm a demon too."
"And you're even more annoying than I am. See? We're even."
While they argued, the trio felt something. As they entered the island, even while still in the air, it felt as though they had passed through some kind of barrier.
Inside, the atmosphere felt different. It was far too... normal. Comfortable, even. For a brief moment, all three of them had the impression that everything here was perfectly normal no matter what happened.
Fortunately, as soon as the thought appeared, all three realized how abnormal it was and rejected it.
"Mental interference?" Marco realized.
"And strong enough to affect me" Kaito nodded.
"We still have time to turn back, you know?" Heekapoo said.
"You know? I remember you having a much braver and more rebellious attitude" Kaito remarked.
"Really? I love being rebellious when it's something I can easily handle or run away from."
"Strong against the weak and weak against the strong. That's why you don't have any friends besides me" Marco mocked.
"I do have friends! And they love my personality," Heekapoo protested. "For example, here's Kaito. Isn't that ri... wait, you remembered me?"
"Hello."
Just as Heekapoo realized there was something wrong with Kaito's words and was about to ask, she was interrupted by a voice behind them in the air.
"Who are you?" Kaito asked without sounding surprised, having sensed her presence a long time ago.
The newcomer was a preteen girl with short blue hair and buttons for eyes. She floated through the air while spinning around for fun, and her body was white and semi transparent, making it obvious she wasn't human.
"A ghost?" Heekapoo asked.
"No, a soul" Marco corrected.
"I'm Coraline. Are you here for the party?" the soul asked in a quiet, whisper like voice.
"Party? No, we're looking for whoever's in charge here" Heekapoo replied.
"'In charge'? But nobody is in charge here" Coraline said in confusion before spinning upward through the air with her arms spread wide. "Everyone here is equal, and we all live happily without worries.
And today is the birthday of someone very special whom everyone loves. Are you sure you don't want to come? Everyone wants to go. She's very popular."
"Very popular? Then maybe we should..."
"If everyone is going, then it would be rude not to."
"We'll go to the birthday party."
"Good, follow me" Coraline smiled and clapped her hands together happily before floating off through the trees in a particular direction.
"So, who's the birthday girl? Should we prepare a gift?" Kaito asked as he followed her.
"Oh, that's not necessary" the soul shook her head. "I'm sure it would make her happy, but the greatest gift for her is our presence. She loves seeing us there."
"I see. She sounds like a wonderful person. No wonder she's so popular" Heekapoo said, impressed.
"Yeah, it seems attending her birthday will be quite an honor" Marco agreed.
"Right?!" Coraline nodded happily. "She's the best. Ah, her name is Mabel. Sorry for not answering your question earlier."
"Mabel, huh?" Kaito murmured.
"What's wrong? Don't you like her name?" Coraline asked, frowning as she stopped to look at him.
"Of course not. Mabel is a beautiful name. Kaito is just a little foolish" Heekapoo said.
"Exactly. A beautiful name that matches her beautiful personality. I can't wait to meet her" Marco added excitedly.
"I see, then it's alright." Coraline let the matter go. "Oh, we're here. Welcome... to Gravity Falls."
Coraline spread her arms as she presented the small town before them, surrounded by trees.
Every street was decorated for a birthday celebration with flowers and streamers everywhere. There were also numerous human shaped balloons bearing the same image, while people dressed in colorful festive clothing hurried through the streets.
Kaito saw all of this and immediately frowned in annoyance.
"Oh, this is going to be troublesome" he muttered.
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+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)