Last chapter, and I wanted to say I'm a little sad to say goodbye, but relieved as well. Thank you for all your support. Merry Christmas, and God Bless.

Belongs to Alex Hirsch and Rick Riordan.

"She made a deal with Bill," Dipper said aloud, not talking to anyone in particular. "This… it's a spell to summon him."

Mabel gulped. She wasn't really afraid of Bill, but she did hate him. He had almost given the code to the safe of the Mystery Shack to Gideon, and he had possessed Dipper's body, which, for a while, had been pretty funny but got really scary when he had threatened to drop her from almost twenty feet in the air.

Hazel frowned at the picture. "For some reason, this unsettles me. What does it mean?"

Dipper turned around, eyes wide with alarm. "Bill is this demon who's been lurking around for a long time. I don't know what he's after…" his eyes glanced to the right for split second, "but whatever it is, it's definitely not for the benefit of humanity." He took a deep breath. "He's really smart and powerful, though, so he likes to make deals with people so that they do stuff for him, though he doesn't always hold up his side of the bargain."

"Dipper made a deal with him once, and he ended up as a sock puppet," Mabel inputted "helpfully."

"Mabel! Shut up!" Dipper shushed her.

"He turned you into a sock puppet?" Jason asked, obviously trying hard to conceal his amusement.

"Ugh. No, he turned me into a ghost, and I had to possess a sock puppet to talk to people," Dipper explained. "And I know it sounds funny," he said, glaring at Mabel, Frank, and Piper who were looking at the floor, shaking with silent laughter, "but it wasn't. Being a ghost is not fun. Although, you can phase through walls, which is kinda cool."

"Speaking of ghosts," Piper said, "why doesn't that ghost just come in here? I mean, maybe her phoenixes can't, but she could still follow us."

"Actually, her kind of ghost can't." Dipper held up the journal and pointed the flashlight. "She's possessing the phoenixes, the same way some other ghosts can possess humans. But since she already attached her soul to them, she can't go anywhere the phoenixes can't. So as long as we stay here, we should be fine."

"But we're not going to," Jason added, "because we need to get rid of those things before they hurt more people. And help your… weird bear thing."

"Uh... yeah," Dipper said. "I guess you do. But... you sealed up the tunnel." He gestured to Hazel.

She hid her hands behind her back. "It's an acquired skill."

"Right..." Dipper said. "Well, it looks like there is another path. It'll take us to a cave a little further down the mountain, but I've never been inside it."

"That's fine," Jason decided. "You two can go home, and we can fight the phoenixes on our own."

"Dude, I still think you're gonna die, but whatever," Dipper answered casually.

"Dipper!" Mabel scolded. "I think we should help."

"Seriously Mabel?" he questioned. "You know how teenagers and adults are; they think that they're so superior and that they can do everything better than you because you're younger. That's why I like hanging out with Soos and Stan; they at least take us seriously."

Mabel did have to admit that older teens and adults often did act that way, but this was important. Just because they acted that way, didn't mean they shouldn't help. "Well, how about we provide backup? If you guys get in trouble, we can always jump to the rescue, Mystery Twins!" She grabbed Dipper's arm and forced it up.

The teens still shook their heads. "You'll get yourselves killed," Hazel told them. "First things first, though; we need to get out. Lead the way."

"Uh..." Dipper flicked through the pages and switched on his black light. "We have to follow this tunnel." He pointed to a path on the left.

Mabel trailed a little bit behind in order to... well, it wasn't eavesdropping, per se, but... Okay, it was eavesdropping. Sue her.

"Hazel," Frank whispered, "Don't you know the way out? You know how to navigate through caves better than a bat."

She was silent for a minute. "I guess... Maybe I'm just used to our parents bossing us to do all their dirty work, that I don't think that telling some kid that they're not competent enough to do something on their own is another way of bossing people around. This kid is so weird. He really makes you think."

While Mabel didn't care about supernatural powers like her brother did, she did care what people thought about them. And she thought these kids seemed nice, and she wanted her brother to like them, too.

She scooched a little closer to the teens. "Ya'know," she whispered, "my brother isn't trying to be rude. It's just that when Bill tricked him, he just became kinda paranoid. Seriously, it freaks him out every time someone wants to shake hands, or tips their hat, or winks, or whatever!"

She had raised her voice somewhat during this tangent, and Dipper heard her. "What-? I do not!"

Mabel scoffed. "Come on, bro-bro. Seriously, you wouldn't go around Gompers for a week just because he has yellow eyes. I think you're paranoid."

Dipper held his hands up in defeat. "Alright, I will admit I was a little jumpy…"

"A little?"

"But I'm not that way anymore!" Dipper objected.

"Then why are you so paranoid and rude around these guys?" Mabel gestured to the teens. "If they were sirens or trolls or chupa-capybara or whatever they could have killed us a long time ago! And they wouldn't have bothered coming here to save me!"

Dipper opened his mouth to reply, and then shut it. "I- uh… Trust no one!"

"Dipper," Mabel said sympathetically, "maybe we've run into some pretty bad people that we shouldn't have trusted. But think of all the wonderful weirdness we've run into, too, like Mermando and the multi-bear! Do you really want to be alone because you won't trust anyone for your entire life?"

Dipper's eyes widened in realization. There were a few people that, he did admit, had been worth the time to get to know them. Robby, Mcgucket, Pacifica... Well, maybe he wasn't friends, per se, with Robby, but he wasn't on strangling terms with him anymore. "I-" his voice made a very prominent crack, due to puberty. He cleared his throat. "I guess you're right." He turned to the teens. "Look, dudes, I'm sorry. Mabel is right. I was really rude, when you were just trying to help me. C-can I start over?" Dipper asked, shamefully.

"Hey, man, no problem." Jason grinned.

Dipper actually did meekly grin back.

Mabel, on the other hand, grinned very wide.

...

Hazel mentally charted the path they needed to take, and made sure they were following it. To her surprise, they had not taken a single wrong turn. She had to give Dipper credit; that journal was spot on.

"I think we're almost there…" Dipper said, carefully noting every twist and branch in the path. He turned left, and finally, after walking about fifty feet, turned right. At the end of the tunnel, there was sunlight, literally the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Wow…" Frank said, impressed. "Good job. I can't say I'm not a little surprised we didn't get lost."

Dipper looked a little annoyed, but took it silently. Hazel assumed he felt bad about being kind of a rude little kid earlier. "I guess I really should go for good this time. And take Mabel with me." He sound a little bit upset.

"It's probably safer that way," Piper agreed. "But, I gotta say; out of all the twelve-year-olds I've met, you're the ones I'd most want to have at my back."

Dipper grinned. Maybe it was part of Piper's ability to make people feel good just by talking, but it sounded sincere, and besides, Dipper seemed to be immune, to an extent.

As they prepared to leave, Dipper gave them a few pointers on the ghost. "She's possessing the phoenixes, so if she can see you, she'll make them follow you. If you manage to hold them all down, she won't be able to go anywhere."

That gave Hazel an idea. A crazy, very dangerous idea that might actually work. "I think I could do something about that."

They ventured out into the tunnel, and found that it opened into a cave similar to the Multi-bear's, but much closer to the foot of the mountain.

"Well, seeya," Dipper said lamely.

"BYEEEEEE!" Mabel yelled. "And also, Piper, your hair is very lovely. I've gotta try something like that braid for Candy!"

"Uh… Thanks?" Piper replied, no doubt wondering who Candy was.

However, as soon as the group stepped out of the tunnel, disaster struck.

All four phoenixes landed so heavily at the mouth of the cave, the ground shook, setting everyone off balance. The ghost floated out from behind them. "It's a shame, Dipper," she chided. "I didn't want to have to kill you and Mabel, but I really need that journal."

…

Dipper's chest went 'clunk', as he realized the danger of the situation they were in. 'Of course!' he thought. 'They're phoenixes; they rise from the ashes. Even if they're not in the journal, I know that.' Dipper had always had a fascination with fantasy.

The others appeared to have similar thoughts, though Mabel looked confused.

"Well, this just makes my plan even better," Hazel said.

The ghost wrinkled her nose in displeasure. "I hate demigods. Always acting like they know how to fix every problem."

Dipper was not entirely sure he would be helpful in this situation, so he pulled Mabel back. "Uh, I'll wait here."

Jason nodded to his friends. "You know what to do."

And they split up, each taking on a phoenix. The ghost floated above, where she could keep a careful eye on them. Since she was controlling the phoenixes, as long as she kept an eye on their opponents, she could always coordinate their moves perfectly.

At first, it did seem like the teens were doing pretty well. They were obviously well trained in the use of their swords and in Frank's case, bow. They would hit the phoenixes in their vitals, and they would disintegrate to ash. But almost as soon as they did so, they started to rise out again, first as chicks, but rapidly growing into adults.

And as the phoenixes fought, the ghost began to see patterns in the teen's attacks, and controlled them to make them be able to dodge better. Finally, the teens were beginning to tire very quickly, and the phoenixes were slightly slower, but still going strong.

"Ugh, there's gotta be something in here that can help!" Dipper said frantically. He flipped through the ghost pages, even under black light, but all he found was a note about ghost turnips trying to force Ford to eat veggies.

The teens were really weakening now. Piper had a scratch on her face, and Frank who had turned into a bear to fight, was keeping one paw off the ground, as though it hurt to put pressure on.

Mabel tugged his shoulder. "What?"

"I have an idea!" she gushed. "If she made a deal with Bill, why don't you look on the page with Bill and see if there's anything?"

Dipper thought that was ridiculous, but looked anyway. Crazily enough, when he showed the black light on the page, there was something. Maybe Mabel did take after Ford a tiny bit.

"Wait, it's like a more advance version of the mind-entering spell! It allows you to enter the mindscape, like when Bill pulled my soul out!" he said as loudly as he dared. "If I was in the mindscape, I might be able to distract her for a few seconds. I've gotta do this." He opened his mouth in order to start chanting, but was stopped by Mabel.

"What are you doing?!" she exclaimed. "Something could go wrong! What if you get stuck?!"

Dipper pulled his arm out of her grasp. "Mabel, I have to do this! They're gonna die, and she's gonna get the journal!"

He opened his mouth again, but was stopped once more. "Wait… Let me do it," she said slowly.

Dipper couldn't quite comprehend what she just said. "W-what?"

"I think we can both agree I'm the more distracting of us! Let me do it!" she told him.

He shook his head. "You can't! I've been a ghost before, and it's hard to maneuver. I already know how to do it!"

Mabel grabbed his arm. "Dipper, I almost lost you forever because I was selfish and something like this happened. My brother and my best friend! Let me do it!" Dipper stopped short of arguing when he saw her eyes tearing up.

"Okay," Dipper relented. "But promise you'll be careful."

"No problem!" She grabbed the book and began to carefully sound out the Latin words, stumbling a bit, but getting pointers from Dipper when necessary.

Finally she ended on, "umbra pugno!" Her eyes glowed white, then shut suddenly.

Dipper hugged her. "Mabel!"

A familiar voice from behind him said, "Woah, this is hard, but it's kinda fun!"

He turned and saw his sister, same old smile, same old sweater, just translucent and floating three feet above the ground. "Don't worry bro-bro! I got this!" And she rocketed forward, leaving her nervous brother behind.

…

Jason was pretty sure they were done for. As far as monster's fighting skills went, the phoenixes were actually not that strong or hard to fight and dodge. However, the whole "Rising from the ashes thing" made it a little more difficult to fight them, mostly because they were fully recovered, and the demigods were tiring quickly. Plus the heat they gave off made it difficult to focus, and blistered his face, branding him slightly when it heated up the metal in his glasses. But the most difficult part of all was that the ghost was controlling them. She could predict attacks and get the bird monsters to dodge when she saw an attack they had used before.

Finally, out of the corner of his eye, he saw one land a hit with its blistering talons on Piper's arm. She cried out in pain, and Jason, distracted, was slammed into the cave wall.

The ghost laughed inhumanly, flames licking the side of her face.

Then, suddenly, she let out a startled yelp, like someone who slipped on ice; a very human sound.

The phoenix shook its head in confusion and the glassy look in its eyes disappeared, as though trying to figure out what it was doing here. It chirped to its companions in slight distress. That was before Piper stabbed hers through the chest, Jason sliced off the head of his, and Hazel and Frank finished theirs off in a similar fashion.

Though the ashes were slowly reforming, the immediate threat was gone. The ghost was distracted by… another ghost? They had brown hair and were wearing a sweater… wait, that was Mabel, except she was now pearly white and translucent, floating several feet above the ground, and grappling the taller ghost.

Dipper had grabbed the body of his sister and hauled her up in his arms, and was trying to drag her towards the entrance. "She's fine," he yelled to the startled Half-Bloods. "We just need to get out of here." Frank hurried over and grabbed her from Dipper.

Hazel took a deep breath. "Keep her and the phoenixes distracted; I need concentration." She closed her eyes.

"That's what you get for trying to mess with my friends!" Mabel shouted, pulling the ghost's braid. She screeched in pain, evidently still able to feel.

"That stupid journal!" she howled. "It's not fair that you get something like that to defend yourself with! I died because of people like them, and I didn't have anything to help myself!"

That caught Jason's attention. He hurriedly stomped through the ashes of a reforming phoenix and yelled up at her, "What do you mean?!"

She hissed, but something in her face betrayed her anger. She looked… shattered, like she was tired and scared, and most of all, miserable, all at once. She looked like she was so messed up, she couldn't even decide how she felt. Ghostly tears ran down her cheeks, much to the surprise of Mabel, though she still kept a grip on her.

"I hate you all!" she screamed. "When my mom died, it was just me and my dad! We didn't have a lot, but we had enough! W-we were happy!" She sobbed, raising her arms up. Disturbingly, it seemed to be having an effect on the phoenix ashes, making them rise faster.

"Then, that 'woman' came! Athena. Sh-she loved my dad, because he was re-really smart," she wept. "But I wasn't. I w-was just normal. And my dad didn't have any t-time left for me." She tried to fight Mabel off, but she kept her grip firm, and tugged at the girl. But the ghost still continued her story, though she was obviously expending a lot of energy and concentration.

"One day, sh-she left. I thought that was the end. That it could all go back to normal. But he still loved her, and I-I was j-just this dumb little kid. He di-didn't even look at me the same anymore!" Weird other-worldly currents began swirling around her. "Then I f-found out that I ha-had a half-brother, Aleixo . And he w-was smart, even when he was little."

Hazel, was still deep in concentration, but frowned. She looked tired as well. Maybe it was Jason's imagination, but he swore he felt some rumbling.

The ghost hung limply, and Mabel stopped fighting her. "And he never looked at me at all. I was just someone he had to take care of, not someone he loved." She wiped her nose, tears streaming down her face and fading once they dripped off. "Then, six years later, the monsters came. I w-was going to leave for college soon. I could sort of see them; they were kind of blurry. But they sc-scared me! The campers came, and they grabbed my brother. They y-yelled at me to stay away and I'd be fine. But they were wrong." She glared, and the cave increased in temperature by about forty degrees.

"They knew I could see them, the big dogs," she growled. "And they ripped me up." She gestured to her shirt. "I died before they finished, but I was literally nothing more than a pile of cloth, hair, and blood when they were done with me. I watched them do it."

"The d-demigods were gone. They had assumed that I wouldn't be hurt, but they always seem to think that they were superior to mortals." she hissed.

The phoenixes burst out of the ashes, fully formed. Mabel tried to restrain and distract her, but the ghost was burning through her powers, and Mabel couldn't get close. "I was stuck like this, in the mindscape, eternally feeling hatred and pain. Then, a mysterious creature came to me. He offered to give me a way to get my revenge, the one thing that would get me out of the mindscape, in return for destroying that journal. I said yes."

The phoenixes closed in, burning too hot for the demigods to get close to. "I'm sorry, Dipper, Mabel, but I need to do this, and if the price is killing two innocent kids, well… let's just say the cost is painful, but worth it."

"GOT IT!" Hazel yelled. The rumbling was definite now, and the stalactites in the cave began to break off.

"Wha-what?!" She screamed. "No, no, no! Stop! STOP IT! I need this! I CAN'T EXIST LIKE THIS ANYMORE!"

Hazels stumbled but was caught by Piper. "Everybody out! It's coming down!"

The phoenixes surged forward, but were stopped Frank shot an arrow with a bomb onto the cave roof. Rocks dropped from the roof, turning the phoenixes to dust.

"Mabel!" Dipper yelled. "Get back here!"

"Way ahead of you, bro!" she soared past him and right back into her body. She blinked a second, before remembering where she was. "Ugh, that was weird. Come on, let's get out of here!"

They raced towards the entrance of the cave. The ghost tried to stop them, her eyes dripping with liquid fire, and flames wracking her entire body, but she could not pursue them, as though held back by a leash.

"I CAN'T BE LIKE THIS ANYMORE! STOP!" she howled.

Jason turned to face her, even though the cave was crashing down. "What is your name?"

She seemed genuinely stunned by the fact he had stopped running to ask such a simple question. "J-Jessica Sullen."

"I promise I will find your sibling, and make them remember you. And I swear I will never, ever, let what happened to you, happen to someone else," he said solemnly.

She blinked, and her eyes regained their brown color. "Don't leave! I'm so lonely!"

"I'm sorry," Jason said. "I have to keep a promise I made to a friend." She sobbed again, and Jason could not recall ever feeling more pity for someone.

….

They made it out of the cave somehow. They ran down the mountain, until they were completely exhausted, and could barely breathe. At least, the teens, who had been fighting phoenixes, needed a break. Dipper, who was feeling rather winded, was glad as well.

"So, is she trapped under there forever?" Piper asked.

Dipper sighed. "I don't know. She could go back to the mindscape, but she probably would be too weak to manifest again, and she wouldn't be able to get the phoenixes back." He turned to Hazel, who was looking a bit tired, but applying some burn ointment to herself. "That was… really cool. Now, every time they rise from the ashes, they get crushed again."

She smiled a bit weakly. "I'm pretty resourceful. I'd rather not have to do that every day, though. It's nice to get your monster slaying done in time for dinner."

"Time…" Mabel muttered. "Oh no! Dipper, what time is it?!"

He glanced at his watch. "Uh, 5:15?"

Mabel groaned. "Oh, great. No sweets for two weeks! And at this rate, we'll get grounded too."

That brought the bet they had made with Stan back to his mind. "Oh… We're in so much trouble."

"What is it?" asked Piper.

"We have to get back to the Mystery Shack, and finish wood chopping. Only, we're probably gonna be out all night…" Dipper explained regretfully.

"Uh," Frank put up his hand. "Do you want any help?"

"Even if you did, there's no way we could be there on time," Mabel replied, saturnine.

"I think there's a way…" Hazel said, trying to hide her smile. She turned to Frank. "Can't freak 'em out more than we already did, right?"

And soon, Dipper, Mabel, and the teens were flying on top of a dragon.

Dipper whooped. "This is awesome!"

Dragon-Frank roared to show his amusement. "You tell 'em, Frank!" Mabel shouted. "You just yell and let the whole world hear!"

Jason and Piper chuckled.

Dipper surveyed the landscape. "There's the clearing! Can you land there?"

Hazel tapped his shoulder. "Hold on."

Frank went into a steep dive like a roller coaster, pulling up at the last second. Dipper made a noise like a cat with something stuck in its throat… "Awesome," he squeaked.

Mabel somehow seemed to gain more energy. "WOOO! I'm on fire baby, let's take down this wood!"

And grabbed her hatchet and began chopping. "Uh… You know what, I think this will go faster if we have Frank and Jason chop."

It took all of the forty minutes they had just to load up the golf cart.

Dipper started the engine, and they returned to the shack, a little more slowly than they had come, because the back was full of wood. The teens followed behind.

Their great uncle was waiting for them out on the porch. "Gee, stall till the last minute, will ya? Why'd you bring a whole bunch of teens with you? They look too 'cool' to hang out with you." He gestured to the group behind them.

Dipper ignored him and began stacking wood next to the shack, Mabel helping. In a few minutes they were.

Dipper held out his hand expectantly. "I believe you owe us some ice cream."

Stan checked his watch. "It's 6:05, and you got someone to help you. I think you need to give up your candy instead."

"Actually, Grunkle Stan," Mabel said officially, "I believe that's called a loophole. See, we just needed to get the wood, we didn't have to stack it, and you never said we couldn't have help. Therefore, we actually finished the job with time to spare."

Stan looked at her incredulously, and then turned. "Ah, using the life skills I teach you. Your parents would be so proud."

"Alright, hop in the car." He looked behind him at the teens. "They're not invited."

"We have to go, anyway," Piper agreed.

"We just want to say goodbye," Mabel said. "It was really nice meeting you all."

Dipper nodded along with her. "Oh, and… I decided, I won't ask about you guys, as long as you don't tell anyone about all the monsters we have here. A lot of them are friendly."

"Deal," Jason agreed. "We might not come back, but… uh, stay out of trouble."

Stan shook his head. "Yeah, right."

They all laughed. Dipper and Mabel got into the car and rolled down the windows. Dipper remembered one more thing. "Oh, by the way! Don't try to sneak into the convenience store! It's really haunted and the ghosts will kill you if you try to go in!" he yelled cheerfully. He didn't get to see their reactions, because the car had already gone down the hill.

…

When Jason and Piper made it back to Camp Half-Blood, they were greeted by Annabeth and Percy.

"So, did you get rid of the phoenixes?" Annabeth asked.

Piper nodded. "Hazel buried them under a bunch of rocks. Every time they reform, they'll just be crushed again."

"That's pretty handy," Percy approved.

"Uh, Annabeth, I need to ask you something…" Jason said suddenly. "Do you have a cabin mate named Aleixo Sullen?"

She looked a little surprised by the question. "Uh… Yeah, he's eight. Why?"

"I need to ask him something. Could you take me to him?"

…

Jessica tried her best to stay out of the mindscape, but she was too weak, and the pull was too strong. Eventually, she was sucked back into the gray drab surroundings.

She floated around for a while, not wanting to think about her problems.

Unfortunately, a loud voice forced her to. "HEYA, HOT-HEAD! WHY SO GLUM?"

She groaned and turned to face the yellow demon. "I failed, if that's what you're wondering. I failed to kill them, and I failed to get the journal. Leave me alone."

"OH, MAN," he said cheerfully, pulling off his top-hat and dusting it. "THAT'S A BUMMER! YOU SEEMED SO SET ON REVENGE, AND THEN YOU BROKE MY TOYS. COULD IT GET ANY WORSE FOR YOU?"

"No." She turned her back on him. "I was just so tired of being stuck like this."

"WELL, YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE STUCK LIKE THAT FOR MUCH LONGER!" She turned around only to see a wide mouth full of teeth. And then she was no more.

Bill licked his fingers. "AH, IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I'VE HAD A SOUL INSIDE ME. I CAN FEEL IT WRIGGLING."

No, that wasn't a reference to a fandom that has completely taken over my life and kept me from this for so long! Who told you that?! They're a dirty liar! YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE! *Jumps out window* Oh, wait. *Reappears* THE END.