This chapter is an excerpt of the threequel to complete the Of Armageddons and Broken Hearts trilogy. The title in the workings is "What Is and Should Never Be" but this might not be the official title when I get around to publishing it. For those interested, keep an eye out for stories titled "In My Time of Dying", "No Rest for the Wicked", "Swan Song", and "Devil May Care" as they could potentially be the official title.

The teacher was speaking animatedly in front of the whole class. She was passing across the front, gesticulating wildly and with such passion one could only be enthralled with the information she was conveying. And yet Dipper had never been more disinterested. He tried to pay attention, but he just couldn't. He had been numb ever since he left Gravity Falls with Mabel. Entering university; attending fascinating lectures tying into his mythical studies program should have been riveting, exciting and enthralling, but the truth was the complete opposite. Life had lost its spark. Everything seemed bleak, and focusing had become something akin to impossible. The voices of his teachers would become distant muffles as Dipper would quickly lose himself in his mind, replaying the events of his latest summer in Gravity Falls.

A little over a year ago, Tad Strange, a crazed Warlock, attempted to destroy the world. He only laid waste to a majority of Gravity Falls before he was stopped. Bill had been able to remedy the damage he made and bring back those he had killed. Little did they know, the demon's actions had attracted the attention of a Grim Reaper which quickly led to much chaos during the summer subsequent to those events. Hell bent on reversing Bill's mass resurrection, seen as a disturbance to the natural order, the creature took possession of Robbie Valentino and reaped the souls of those having been revived. Finding a way to stop the Grim Reaper had been rather difficult, and the task itself risky. Narrowly avoiding death once, not all of them had been able to do it a second time during their final confrontation. Ford had lost his life; his soul having been casted into the depths of the Void – a place from which not even the most powerful deity could be able to retrieve it.

Dipper often dreamt of the dreadful tragedy as well. The brunet had swapped nightmares of being chased by Tad Strange for watching his great uncle Ford, his idol, die over and over again. Sometimes, Ford would get the chance to speak his final words and more times than not he would blame Dipper for not having been able to save him. He felt guilty. The Grim Reaper had given him the opportunity to dissuade his family's endeavour, to convince them to let the creature do its job and spend a normal summer, but he had failed and Ford had paid the ultimate price. Bill was still nowhere to be found. Dipper's heart always gave a painful throb when he dared think about the demon. He could still hear his anguished screams in his mind.

"With that said, I'll end there for today." The teacher declared, snapping the teen out of his thoughts. Low chattering quickly filled the room as hundreds of students packed away their computers and papers into their bags, "Our midterm will take place in the second class coming back from your reading week. I would like to remind you that this isn't a vacation period, this is a study period. Have a good week and study hard."

Dipper lowered his eyes, ready to reach for his binder when he noticed he hadn't pulled it out to take notes. Again. He must have zoned out as soon as he took a seat in the back row as he always did. He leaned back in his chair in disappointment and sighed. He wasn't sure what he was going to do about the midterm considering he hadn't paid attention to most of the classes. Perhaps he simply ought to drop out for the semester. He was still mourning and wasn't much in a state to focus on his lessons. Maybe it would do him some good to give himself a break and attend classes in the second semester. However, Dipper knew he wouldn't leave his room if he went through with it.

The brunet grabbed his bag and shrugged it on his shoulder. He followed the sea of students out of the class and through the halls. He had attended his last seminar of the week and was now officially beginning his reading week. Mabel had begun hers the day before – having no courses to attend on Fridays. She was likely waiting after him in their apartment with their bags ready. Despite it being a time to study and work on projects, Dipper and Mabel had decided to return to Gravity Falls and spend the week with Grunkle Stan. Though they spoke to the man on a near day to day basis, both twins were eager to return to that Oregon town lost in the forest if only to give him company for a short week. They had booked seats on the earliest bus they could take to Gravity Falls and Dipper had to hurry home.

He walked to the campus station and hopped on the first bus that brought him remotely close to the apartment he and Mabel had moved into. Their decision to move out had been made at the last second. Initially, the twins had planned to stay with their parents during their studies, but neither had foreseen Ford's death. Seeing as Stan's twin's existence as well as their crazy adventures were unknown to their parents, they wouldn't understand their children's grief. Thus, to avoid any form of confrontation, Dipper and Mabel moved away. Their new home was a little over thirty minutes away from their university and though it was located downtown, they had managed to score a flat for a rather cheap price. A third roommate was consequently unnecessary and the twins preferred it that way. They didn't have to worry about accidentally spilling their secrets and Mabel was free to use her magic as much as she pleased.

The bus pulled to a stop and Dipper hopped off. He was at a ten minute walking distance from his apartment which he could see peaking over the other tall buildings in the area. He made his way back fairly quickly and, as expected, Mabel had been waiting for him. He found their suitcases placed by the door and his sister lounging about in their sad excuse for a living room. The area was mostly empty with stained wall paper steadily peeling itself from the walls, rickety floor boards, and little to no furniture. They had no TV, instead they had a small coffee table next to a charger on which they placed a laptop. Their flat was conveniently close to a Starbucks and they were able to mooch off the Wi-Fi connection. Mabel was lying on her back on the sofa, carving drawings into the ceiling with her magic.

"Sup." She greeted evenly without sparing a look in his direction. She seemed very focused on her drawing.

"I'm probably going to flunk witchcraft but whatever." He shrugged his answer as he passed through the living room. Under different circumstances, Dipper might have been more panicked at the thought of potentially failing a class. At the moment, it was hard to care about something that was admittedly mundane. "I saw that you made my suitcase; thanks." He added, "I'll take a shower and then I'll be ready to go."

"Sounds good." Mabel said, "You've got twenty minutes."

Dipper nodded and marched into his room. He tossed his bag onto his messy bed and quickly began pulling off his clothes. "So how was your day?" he asked as he did so.

"Uneventful." Mabel replied, "I kind of just doodled all over the ceiling the whole day."

"Any projects you need to work on during reading week?" Dipper asked, stumbling out of his pants.

"Probably." Mabel shrugged, "I'm in the same boat as you, brobro. I can't pay attention. It doesn't matter that it's literally the most amazing and interesting thing to me; my mind just wanders off."

University had evidently not turned out to be the fantastic experience everyone had told them it would be. Then again, no one could have anticipated that the twins would have been mourning the all too recent death of their great uncle. Ford's absence was very noticeable – probably more so with Bill gone as well.

Dipper glanced at the ground with a frown. "It's not your fault, you know." He muttered and he knew his sister could hear him. The walls were very thin.

"It doesn't feel that way." Mabel smirked bitterly, "What's all this magic good for if I can't protect those I love, you know?"

Dipper bit his lower lip. He wished his sister didn't feel guilty like he did. He wished he could make that terrible feeling go away. She probably blamed herself given her unstable mood at the time. Unlocking her magical potential had rendered her rather irritable and rash. Maybe she thought, had she been more level headed and like her normal self, she could have found a way to prevent Ford's death. Of course, that likely wouldn't have changed anything. After all, it was Dipper's fault. Dipper was responsible. Dipper had failed.

"Hey…" Mabel began quietly after a moment of nothing, "Do…do you think we'll see Bill when we go back?"

Bill hadn't given any of them even the most remote sign he was still around. Stan hadn't heard anything from him either. The demon had simply vanished. For all they knew, he could have returned to his dimension or fled to a different one. That being said, Dipper hoped they would see him again. Grieving alone, especially the loss of a lover, wasn't the best idea. Bill needed to be around people for support, whether he knew it or not.

Bill needed them

Bill needed his family.

"I don't know." Dipper answered frankly as he pulled on his bathrobe, "I hope we do."

"Me too…" Mabel mumbled as her brother walked to their shared bathroom.

He took a quick shower, forcing himself not to wander back to the tragedy of that terrible summer like he always did when he had a second to think. He cleaned himself thoroughly before leaving the warm water and drying himself. Then he pulled on some fresh clothes and he and Mabel left. Next stop: Gravity Falls.

Of Armageddons and Broken Hearts series:

PART 1: Two Minutes to Midnight

PART 2: The Executioner's Song

PART 3 (final): ?

BONUS CONTENT: The Loveliest Lies (situated during the events of Two Minutes to Midnight)