Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Entry 1

User: ShiningStar
Date: Wednesday 11th July, 2021

Hi there! My name is Mabel. My girlfriend said I shouldn’t include my name, but she’s just being a paranoid buzzkill. The reason why I’m even writing this is pretty silly anyways, but I felt it could be helpful to get feedback from you.

I guess I should give you some basic information about myself first. I’m a 22 year old girl, living on the West Coast in the USA. Paz is gonna kill me if I say the name of my town, so that’s all you’re gonna get, sorry. (Paz is my girlfriend btw, but I think you figured that out yourself.) Okay, I keep rambling, but I should probably explain why I’m writing this in the first place. I thought it would be stupid to type out all of this, because I’m preeetty sure I was just overreacting, but... Well, that was until tonight. But let me start from the beginning before I get too cryptic.

Alright so, like already mentioned, I live in a pretty remote town. I’m going to college here and majoring in fashion design, where I also met my girlfriend. Nothing much ever happens here. In fact, it’s pretty peaceful. There’s almost no crime or weird people and everyone is nice to each other. Sure, there are some bullies here and there, but we’re mostly a really open and friendly community. I also have a very good connection to my parents. All in all, I’m probably the luckiest girl on earth! Haha, except for Paz because I’m her girlfriend ;) I really should stop talking about this, I’m sorry (not really). Anyways!

Today something strange happened... I found a note. (Well, that in itself isn’t very strange, since I sometimes leave notes for myself to remember something or similar things.) But this note was different. I found it in my locker at school after I had been in the library. I didn’t remember putting it there, and no one else had access to my locker. There were absolutely no signs of a break in either. Everything was just as it was supposed to be, except for the note. Now, there wasn’t even anything special about it. It was a normal piece of paper, folded twice. Naturally, I immediately read it. Could’ve been a secret admirer maybe, although that would have been a bit creepy. But no. All it read was ‘Gravity Falls’.

I had absolutely no idea what that meant. I’d never heard of Gravity Falls before. I had zero clue what it could possibly be. The first thing I did was ask Paz about it, but she just brushed it off, saying she didn’t know anything about it either and that it was probably just a weird joke. Of course, I wasn’t satisfied with that answer! SO I did research. Serious business! (Okay, I Googled.) Turns out, Gravity Falls is apparently a small town all the way up in Oregon. It appears to be a lumber town that used to be populated by a few hundred people but is now classified as a ghost town. That’s weird enough. Why would someone leave me a note like this? What am I supposed to do with this information? Well, naturally I thought visiting the place would be a great idea. It was only a three hour drive, pshhh nothing big! When I asked Paz if she wanted to come as well she declined though, saying I should focus on my studies instead of visiting some weird ass ghost town just because a note seemed to suggest that. But I know that it would kill me not to know what that was about. My parents weren’t very happy either when I asked them if I could take their car, which was a bit disappointing. (In the end they said yes, though.)

I know, I know! Maybe it was a very impulsive act. But I’ve never been to a ghost town and this was the perfect opportunity, even if it was only to humour the note. In fact, I’d already forgotten about the weirdness of it while planning my trip. Of course I packed my camera and notebooks as well as some food and a knife. You never know. Maybe someone crazy just wanted to lure me out of town.

At around 3 pm I started driving. I should have arrived at Gravity Falls at about 6 pm. The drive was boring and there wasn't much outside to watch, except a whole lot of forest. Man, I bet you’re all very excited for what I found in the town! I sure was.

Too bad I never made it there. Wait, what? ‘But Mabel! How can that be? Surely you followed the GPS or map?’ Of course I did. And that is exactly why I am writing this entry in the first place. After driving for about four hours on the road I’d made sure was the one that was supposed to lead right through Gravity Falls, I was still stuck in the forest. There was nothing. Night was falling when I decided to turn back around and go back. But here’s the thing that creeps me out the most... It only took me half an hour to reach my city again.

Thinking about this makes me feel incredibly weird. Was it some kind of ‘glitch in the Matrix’ situation? I’ve heard of those, but never really took them too seriously. But I swear on everything that is holy (like purple kittens!) that I’m not making this up! I’d been going hours on end through that dumb forest road, yet made it back in less than an hour after turning around? That’s pretty much impossible! Maybe I was in some kind of trance while driving back? I guess it was getting dark... Also, don’t worry - I didn’t see any creepy white ghosts standing at the edge of the road or something stupid like that. It was literally just this situation. I have to admit, I’m still a little freaked out. Paz didn’t believe me, which upsets me even more. She just said my imagination was playing a trick on me. And I know I’ve made up a lot of weird stuff for a 22 year old, but I couldn’t come up with something as strange as this.

Oh well. I’ll probably just try to forget about it. It might have just been a dumb joke after all! If you know anything about what this could mean, though, please let me know.

I’ll update this if anything else peculiar happens, although I’m pretty sure this was a one time thing. Something worth sharing anyways.

Thank you for reading! Have a great night :)

Chapter Text

Entry 2

User: ShiningStar
Date: Wednesday 18th July, 2021

Hello there! I know it’s been like a week since I last posted, but I read all comments I got regardless. To be honest, I didn’t expect that I’d have to make another post. I really thought this was just a one time weird occurrence, haha. Well, obviously it was not! But before I explain what happened, I wanted to thank user Eloo39 for sharing a map of the area with me. I did look at Google Earth for clues, but all I could find was forest where Gravity Falls was supposed to be. It turns out the town was completely taken over by the trees, so it was hard to spot. Eloo39 found an older map, showing that the road I had been on was the right one. That still doesn’t explain what exactly happened, but I now know that I’ll have to try again and maybe even get off the road. But first things first!

I’m seriously starting to think that someone has actual access to my locker. Sure, it could be possible to maybe slip pieces of paper through the door (even if I kind of doubt it!), but this time I found a book in there!! Yes, a book. And a big one at that. And now hold your horses. It’s a book about all kinds of weird creatures. It looks really old, has a red leather case and a cut-out of a golden six-fingered hand with a ‘2’ written on it.

I’m so confused... Where did this come from and what am I supposed to do with it? I checked the library and this book is definitely not from there. There’s not even an ISBN code anywhere. It appears to be handwritten too. Maybe it’s self-made? Though that still doesn’t explain why someone wanted me to have this. There’s a lot of things in there that have been crossed out, too, or pages that are ripped. Some even seem to be singed. Most of it is really just a collection of weird fantasy creatures with some descriptions. Almost as if someone had really studied this. Maybe it’s for some kind of art project? I am the vice president of the art club, after all. But why not give it to the president instead? And why hide it in my locker? Very mysterious! Yes, I already asked around school, but no one seemed to know what it was or whom it belonged to.

On top of that, Paz said I should just throw it away. I don’t know what’s going on with her nowadays. We’ve been happy for over two years with no complications, but now she’s starting to get really mean and dismissive about everything that’s happening. I mean, maybe I’m digging too deep into this, but who wouldn’t? I love mysteries!! I just can’t help myself and it’s really disheartening to know your own girlfriend doesn’t support you. I already made us matching Mystery Hunter sweaters :(

Oh! I almost forgot to mention that I received a new piece of paper just today. I got the book about three days ago, so this is new information. I couldn’t make much of it, though. There’s literally just a triangle on the paper, nothing else. I tried the trick where you can hold paper over flames to see if there’s invisible ink involved, but I only managed to burn my hand. So that was a failure. Don’t worry though, it’s not too bad!

Silliness aside, I think I know what I have to do next. Like already mentioned in the beginning, I’ll try to go back and find this town one more time. I will definitely take my camera and this strange book I found with me, hopefully getting to bring back some pictures. I’m going to go on Saturday, during the weekend. Maybe I’ll make it a camping trip! Paz says she won’t come, but that’s not going to hold me back. I’m definitely getting to the bottom of this, with or without her help. I’ll write another update once I’m back! See you! :D

Entry 3

User: ShiningStar
Date: Friday 20th July 2021, 1:05 pm

Hey. I know it’s only Friday today and I haven’t actually started my trip yet. It’s just… something happened that I wanted to tell you beforehand. I’m starting to get a little creeped out about this. I know it may sound stupid and you might not believe me, but I have the feeling that someone’s watching me. It started the evening after I wrote my last entry and it just hasn’t stopped. Whenever I look around I can’t see anyone or anything... But that’s not the only weird thing.

Triangles have started to appear all over town. I’m being serious! They are etched into trees or spray painted on building walls. Sometimes they have eyes. And I swear to god I’m not making this up, but the eyes seem to follow you around. No one else seems to be bothered by this, though! Paz even said she never really saw one?! I’m so confused!

Just a few minutes ago I almost ran into a tree, with one of those things staring right at me. I also get new papers each day with the same weird symbol on it. I don’t know what this is supposed to mean. Maybe someone is trying to scare me? But I won’t let them. I’m going through with my plan, no matter what. Alright, I’ve finished packing the car. I’ll keep you guys up to date. Sorry for the short update.

If I don’t reply anymore call the police, haha. JK!!

Entry 4

User: ShiningStar
Date: Friday 20th July 2021, 8:35 pm

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Chapter Text

Leaves crunched beneath Dipper Pines' feet as he slowly made his way through the familiar, and yet foreign, terrain. He took a deep breath before letting it out in a long drawn-out sigh, watching the cloud of his breath swirling in the air before vanishing. It was much colder than he had expected and the young man had to pull his jacket a bit tighter around his body. It was still autumn, but Oregon was already way ahead with the freezing temperatures. At least there was no snow yet.

It had been roughly nine years since Dipper had last seen this forest, yet it seemed like an eternity. He almost felt displaced, like he didn’t belong here. The deeper he walked into the woods, the more he felt like he should turn and run back to the street where the bus had left him, but he kept his gaze ahead, determined to make it to the small town he had spent that dreadful summer in. That summer that had cost him his sister. He could still remember the government agents taking their great uncle away for building a doomsday device. He could almost still hear Mabel’s pleading voice to go back and help their uncle but the boy had refused, not seeing why he should risk his life for someone that was prone to cheating his way through life. How could he trust him after all the things he had witnessed Stanford Pines doing?

Dipper felt his heart ache and he needed to stop and lean against a tree as he felt his throat tighten, making it hard for him to breathe properly. Tears stung in his eyes and he had to blink multiple times to get rid of them. He could not have an episode now. He refused to be this weak after only half an hour of being here. He took ten deep breaths, thankfully managing to calm himself down before it went too far. He needed to stop thinking about the past so much.

Five minutes passed before the young man continued his hike through the dense forest, hardly managing to find a clear path. He wondered what had happened in those years he was away. The bus driver had told him that Gravity Falls was completely abandoned, but could this really be the truth? Could an entire lumbertown be abandoned in only nine years? He didn’t really want to believe it, but so far all signs pointed towards this being true.

The sun was starting to sink below the horizon when Dipper found the edge of the forest that revealed the main road, leading to Gravity Falls. He didn’t know why, but he felt dread starting to crawl through him as he looked down the road. There were multiple cracks in the asphalt and vegetation had started to take over, showing that no vehicle had passed here in awhile. Even the birds had stopped singing, although Dipper figured this was because it was starting to grow dark. He’d better hurry up. The young man walked along the middle of the road, his hands clutching the straps of the backpack he carried. He felt nervous and even more out of place.

He felt as if reality was starting to distort, making him dizzy and sick. White dots danced in front of his eyes and the ground seemed to move in waves while his vision started to blur. There was no logical explanation for why he was feeling this ill, and panic started to grip his heart again. He took another step forward, but tumbled to the ground, lying on his side for a while and breathing heavily. There was a weight on his chest and he wanted to throw up. What if the air was poisoned? What if there had been a natural catastrophe that erased every form of life and now he was walking right into a hostile, if not deadly, environment?

You need to go a little further.

Dipper didn’t know if he imagined the soft whisper in his ear or not. Maybe he was already going insane. Maybe he was dying. He couldn’t even remember what exactly the voice sounded like, mere seconds after hearing it, but for some reason he knew it was right. With a groan, he pushed himself back onto his feet and started walking forward again, despite the shaking of the ground... And then the feeling was gone.

No more sickness, no more dizziness. He felt perfectly fine.

But then, his stomach dropped into his knees for a different reason. The sky should have been dark by now with stars overhead. Instead, it was a deep crimson colour. Granted, there were still stars visible, but the colour was just unnatural, and when Dipper cast a glance at his smartphone to check the time, its digital clock had turned into all zeros. Not to mention that there was no connection signal at all.

“Well, this is starting to get weird,” Dipper mumbled to himself but decided to go on anyways. Going back probably meant he would have to suffer through the disturbing feeling of sickness again, since he figured this was some kind of shield even if he couldn’t explain how it worked. It was probably some form of strong magic.

If the forest had been quiet before, now it was buzzing with strange noises that made Dipper jump every few minutes. No animal he’d ever encountered would make such noises, and he couldn’t quite remember all the different supernatural creatures he had met here nine years ago. Finally he reached the treeline, but what he saw wasn’t exactly encouraging. Gravity Falls still existed, but it seemed vacant.

The town was empty and vegetation had started to reclaim the area. There were cracks in the main road that led right through the town and, when Dipper followed it, he noticed shadows moving in some buildings. He felt incredibly uneasy but didn’t dare to explore any of the houses. There was no way that whatever was living here now was human. He could’ve sworn he heard some kind of deep growl coming out of an entrance on his left side, so he ran down the street that would lead him to an intersection. He needed to get to the Mystery Shack as soon as possible.

While a part of him was actually really interested in what kind of paranormal phenomena was happening here, he was mostly filled with anxiety. He wondered if it had been a terrible decision to return, and if he could even still leave after what he’d seen.

But most of all, he wondered if Mabel was here somewhere. This hope still kept him moving. If he pretended hard enough, he could just imagine her in front of the Mystery Shack, playing with her pet pig Waddles when everything had still been relatively normal and happy.

The day she had disappeared had been one of the darkest days in Dipper’s life, as were the months that followed. Not long after they had been returned back home by the government agents, Mabel had started to act weird. She grew silent and there was a certain restlessness about her that Dipper never quite understood. She gradually drifted away from him, and almost shut him out completely when he tried to talk to her. Their parents weren’t much help, either. Of course they noticed something was wrong with their girl, but no doctor was able to help.

Then, on their fourteenth birthday, she vanished. Dipper remembered sitting alone in front of a cake meant for two and his parents talking to police officers. They kept searching the area for two weeks but no trace of Mabel was ever found, except for one shoe. They said it was unlikely that they would find her and that they shouldn’t get their hopes up.

Dipper started dreaming about various ways he could have lost Mabel. There was a river close to their home. And a bridge on the other side of town. Maybe she’d taken a rope and went to the woods. He saw her everywhere and it was always the same terrible pictures in his mind.

When he started to develop mental health issues, his parents were exasperated. They didn’t know what to do. One child was missing and the other was suffering greatly from the loss. He was put on medication for a while, but that only made him sicker. He started to develop insomnia and his grades in school fell.

When he turned eighteen, his dreams changed. Something deep within him called him back to the lumber town they had left so long ago. He could feel that Mabel was still alive, even when no one else seemed to think so. They were siblings... Twins, even. That was a greater connection than anyone else could ever understand, unless they had a twin themselves. Dipper had researched some Nigerian legends about twins, that partially confirmed the deep connection he was feeling.

At the age of nineteen he stopped taking his medication. At first, he got worse very fast, but eventually managed to pull himself together and reduce the amount of episodes he experienced every week, until it was only once or twice a month. His parents were pleased to see that he was doing better and even graduated with a passable grade. They were not so pleased when they heard his plans to return to Gravity Falls.

No one had heard a single word from Grunkle Stan in all those years, so they weren’t sure what to make of Dipper’s idea. They wanted him to go study and live his life to leave the past in the past, but Dipper knew that this wasn’t an option for him. He would never get better if he didn’t do this.

So he left without a word, in the dead of the night when his parents were sleeping. He felt bad, but not bad enough to change his plans.

Now he regretted his decision, though. He had followed an almost overgrown dirt road that he recognized as the one leading to the Mystery Shack. The strange and unwelcome energy surrounding him grew the closer he got to the Shack, and he felt as if he should run as far away as possible. He could almost see the roof through the trees, or so he thought at least.

Then a hand came out from behind him and draped firmly over his mouth. He tried to register what was going on, as adrenaline pumped through his body and made him struggle violently. The person, whoever it was, was trying to pull him into the treeline and he tried his hardest to fight back, even going as far as to bite the other.

“Hahaha, that’s hilarious... Calm down, Pine Tree!!”

A sob escaped Dipper at that, and he went so limp that the stranger had to steady him with his other arm. That name... He hadn’t been called by that name in such a long time, and unpleasant memories flooded back into him, rendering him completely vulnerable. Surprisingly enough, as soon as they had passed a few trees, the grip the stranger had on him loosened, and grew almost soft.

“Boy, sure haven’t seen you in a while. I see you’re doing terrible,” the voice half-huffed, half-laughed into his ear. Dipper knew exactly who it was, even if the uncanny usual echo to his voice was missing. He felt cold and just wanted to get away from Bill Cipher. He didn’t care to find out why the demon was a human. He didn’t care about any of that; Bill was a bad omen, no matter what form he took.

“Leave me the fuck alone!” Dipper screamed, reaching back to push at Bill’s chest and finally broke free, starting to run away again without even looking at him once. Maybe if he didn’t see him, he could pretend he wasn’t real. Yes, that seemed plausible.

“Wait! Dipper! You’re making a mistake!” Bill shouted after him, but Dipper didn’t reply. He just ran and ran into the direction of the Shack. He could see the structure of the building now, but before he reached it, his foot struck something and he tumbled to the ground, knees hitting the floor and face almost smashing against a stone. Luckily he managed to bring his arms up and stop his fall short.

“You damn idiot, look what you’ve done! Don’t be so reckless,” Bill’s voice hissed at him. He had apparently caught up and was now kneeling down next to Dipper. The boy hid his face in his arms; he didn’t want to look.

“Stop hiding and look at me!!” Bill growled before grabbing Dipper’s hair, pulling hard and forcing Dipper to turn around.

Bill didn’t look anything like Dipper had expected. He was young. Probably around his own age, maybe only a bit older. One of his eyes was black with a bright blue slitted pupil, while the other was the bright yellow he used to see in his nightmares sometimes. He had dark hair except for a yellow undercut on the left side of his face. Bill Cipher looked like an average college student.

“Tch. You’re disturbing him,” Bill muttered, his expression surprisingly frustrated. It was only now that Dipper saw what exactly he had tripped over. There was a rather curious looking stone near his feet that stuck out of the air, and next to it stood a simple wooden cross. The colour from Dipper’s face drained and he turned to look at Bill.

“What is this?” he asked, feeling like the words would be stuck in his throat.

Bill didn’t reply at first, just looked down at the cross, expression unreadable. Then he slowly turned to look down at Dipper, his eyes flaming with anger. The young man quickly got back up on his feet, trying to ignore his shaking legs.

Bill made a noise that was something akin to a displeased grunt before speaking up.

“I take it you returned to visit family? Say hello to your dear grunkle Stan!”

Chapter Text

Entry 5

User: ShiningStar
Date: Saturday 22rd July, 2021

Uhm. Hello guys.

I think the first thing I’m going to address here is the last message. I swear I didn’t send that. I still haven’t even figured out what that is trying to say yet. I’m pretty certain it is some kind of code, but I really don’t know which one.

Then again, I haven’t really been able to concentrate. I’m too disturbed by the things I’ve encountered this weekend. To give some context: I just came back home about two hours ago and saw the message. There was no reception out there in the wilderness, just as expected. But there were certainly a few other, not-expected things.

Let me start with the most important information:
I didn’t find the town. It appears that it has been literally swallowed by the earth. There were a few remains that looked like they could have belonged to houses and a really, really overgrown road. I almost didn’t see it until I actually stepped on the hard surface. It really freaked me out at first.

‘Ok but if the town didn’t exist, why did you stay away for two days, huh, Mabel?’ ...That’s the thing you’re probably asking yourself, right?!

The answer to that is simple: I got fucking lost. Excuse the language, but that’s really what happened. And... oh god. It was so terrifying. I couldn’t find my car anymore after I ventured a bit into the forest. No matter which direction I took I only found more trees. The sun was almost gone when I stumbled onto the damn ghost road. Good thing I brought my tent with me.

Of course I wasn’t scared!! Haha, I’m an adventurer. Adventurers aren’t scared, not even when they hear creepy whispering and other noises in the dark. Or see shadows walking past their tent. Humanoid ones.

Yeah, needless to say I didn’t get much sleep that day. Nothing attacked my tent, but I did see a yellow light shining through the trees. I didn’t go to investigate though. Something told me that probably wouldn’t be such a smart idea.

Fast forward to the next day. I kept walking through the forest, hoping to find my way back to the car. I had no signal, of course, and even my digital clock was going haywire. It only showed 00:00 the entire time. I won’t bore you with countless hours of nothing happening, so I will sum up what exactly I found:

1. Some very rundown ruins of a few buildings that were almost indistinguishable.
2. Weird artefacts littering the floor, like pieces of a shattered amulet. I think it might be the one mentioned in the journal I got. It was supposed to grant the wearer telepathic powers. Too bad it was broken.
3. A grave. Not kidding. The disturbing part is that it seemed relatively new. As if someone tended to it. I didn’t inspect it further.

That’s it. Nothing that really gave me any clue as to why the heck I was supposed to come here. Maybe someone just really, really wants to scare the heck out of me. I really hope that’s the case. Anyways, I had to spend another night in the creepy forest because I still hadn’t found my way back to the car, as if someone had hidden it! Or something was keeping me trapped in the area.

Today was the worst day. I got woken up by voices outside my tent. I felt so freaked out. Even though the sun was already up, I couldn’t see ANYONE outside, but I could clearly hear two voices talking. I couldn’t understand what exactly they were saying. It was like they spoke a different language, although they didn’t. It’s really hard to explain, I’m still trying to wrap my own head around it.

One of the voices sounded sad, though. Sad and… desperate. It made my heart ache so bad I started crying. I don’t know why- I just...

I’m sorry. It’s really hard to stay cheery. But I’ll try.

Alright, the worst part was stepping out of the tent. I was still feeling like there was another presence with me and I guess I was a bit nervous about walking right into them when I got out. But there was no one there. The only thing I really noticed was that the world seemed greyer than usual. The sun was shining, but the forest seemed dull and colourless.

I packed up my tent and sleeping back and was just starting to walk back when qeb qobbp dobt bvbp. Qebv lmbkba tfab, xii xq lkzb, pqxofkd afobzqiv xq jb.

I screamed and started running and running, trying not to look back until I (finally!!!!) reached my car!

I didn’t even waste much time, I just slammed all of my things into the backseat before getting inside and starting the engine. It didn’t want to work at first, it took a few tries for it to start up. It was then that I looked into the rearview mirror and almost passed out.

Sitting there, in the backseat, for about a second, was… me? I think it was me. The person looked kind of like me, but also different, and they looked like they came straight out of a zombie movie. Maybe they were the one in the grave? The apparition was missing their eyes and had terrible wounds all over, while their skin looked sickly. I felt sick, too, but when I did a double take, they were gone.

Shit, sorry, my hands are shaking. I think I just want to forget everything I’ve seen this weekend now. I’ll listen to Paz and not investigate this further. Whatever happened - and I don’t care if you believe any of this or not - I don’t want anything to do with this anymore.

Thanks for reading and commenting, anyways. I’m sorry if I made some of you curious now, but this is something I don’t think I should look into further.

Bye bye!!

Comments:

Eloo39: Qll ixqb ql dl yxzh.

Eloo39: Vlr kbsbo exa x zelfzb fk qeb cfopq mixzb.

Chapter Text

“You’re lying!” Dipper screamed at the top of his lungs, barely noticing that Bill almost flinched. He had jumped back up onto his feet and was advancing on the demon, who was standing his ground, holding Dipper’s angry stare.

“What did you do to my uncle?!” Dipper added and shoved Bill harshly, making him stumble backwards and almost fall to the ground.

“Me?! I didn’t do shit to the good old Stanley! You were the one that all up and fucking left when you were needed. How dare you suggest this is my fault, you don’t even know anything, Pine Tree!” Bill yelled back, now looking enraged. He steadied himself and got back up in Dipper’s face, who was now more confused than angry. Definitely still angry enough to punch Bill straight in the jaw, though.

Bill cried out, his hand coming up to touch where he’d been hit, eyes wide. Dipper was breathing hard and his hands trembled, still balled into fists. He felt adrenaline surge through him and it took a great deal not to punch Bill again. It had felt too good. He didn’t know how, or why, the demon was physical now, but it felt good to be able to finally repay him for all the nightmares and hallucinations he’d suffered through for the past nine years. “Never call me Pine Tree ever again,” he hissed, while Bill was still trying to figure out what happened.

“You entitled little brat; you don’t know what you’re doing!” Bill shot back, angrily. If Dipper didn’t know better, he’d think he’d saw a little bit of hurt in the demon’s eyes. His head was spinning. Nothing made sense. Why was Bill like this? Why was his great uncle dead? Was he really here or was this a dream? He swallowed hard, feeling himself dissociate.

Suddenly Bill looked panicked at something behind him and lurched forward, grabbing Dipper’s wrist before starting to run.

“Come on, we need to leave!” he said but Dipper dug his heels into the ground, refusing to move. There was no way in hell he was going anywhere with Bill Cipher. With a swift motion, he pulled his hand free from Bill’s grip, stumbling a few steps backwards and away from him again, spitting out a “fuck you!” in the process. Bill’s eyes started to glow dangerously and it seemed he was about to lash out, but then he glanced at something behind Dipper again. After a moment of hesitation he ran off, back into the darker parts of the forest.

Dipper breathed heavily, blood rushing in his ears, while anger and panic made his vision blur. He wasn’t able to think clearly; he felt himself slipping again and blamed the dream demon for bringing him back into this state. He’d worked so hard to become a rational human being again.

Why had he come here? He was going to make everything worse again... This was a mistake.

A hand gripped his shoulder hard, and he let out a startled scream.

“Woah, hey, relax! I’m not going to hurt you, kid.” The voice behind him sounded deep with a slight rasp to it, but not unkind. Dipper whipped around, coming face to face with a man that looked like his great uncle Stanford. He looked back at the grave, then back to the man again. In the next moment he blacked out.

---

Dipper woke up, covered in cold sweat and sitting up straight. He gasped for air, feeling the walls closing in on him. Walls. He was inside a house. Not just any house; he recognized the structure of the room as the living quarters of the Mystery Shack. Upon further investigation, he also recognized that he was lying on the sleeping armchair he and his sister had once shared to watch dumb cartoons like Ducktective. He was covered with a thin blanket, or at least had been, until he had knocked it off.

Dipper couldn’t remember what nightmare had haunted him this time. He barely ever remembered them. The sheer nostalgic feelings this place held managed to help him calm down and he leaned back in the chair, relaxing. He almost wished he could have his meds back, to get himself back under control again, but in the long run he knew they wouldn’t help.

After calming down for a few minutes, he slipped off the armchair, looking around for his backpack. It stood next to the chair and he bent down to look through it. The floorboards behind him creaked.

“I see you’re awake... You have some explaining to do, kid. Where did you get this?” Dipper tensed up again and slowly stood, turning around to face the familiar and yet strange man. At least this time, he was sure he wasn’t a ghost or something like that. His heart dropped, though, when he saw that the guy was holding up Journal Three with a stern expression.

Dipper took a moment to examine him a bit closer before answering. The man looked like Stan, except that he wore glasses and at second glance his hairstyle looked a little different as well. The most obvious difference was his voice though. Not-Stan also wore clothes that his great uncle would never choose to wear. A dark purple turtleneck sweater and a black cloak that almost reached the floor and looked like it was ripped right out of a dystopian movie setting. He had matching black boots that were a similar fashion and some grey pants that matched the sweater more than the rest.

“I’ll tell you once you explain who the hell you are, why you’re here, why you look like Grunkle Stan, and why the hell Bill CIpher is scared of you!” Dipper eventually answered, questions suddenly flowing out of him like a waterfall. And here he’d almost thought words had left him forever. Nope, he was still as curious as ever.

The older man seemed surprised by this triad of questions as well, blinking behind his glasses before starting to laugh. It wasn’t an unfriendly laugh and something about it soothed Dipper’s suspicions. Although, it might have been the fact that he looked like his uncle, too.

“I didn’t know I had a nephew. This is a surprise, but not an unpleasant one at all. Now that you mention it, I knew you looked kind of familiar.” The man spoke, only making Dipper more curious. Then it seemed to click.

“Grunkle Stan had a twin!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.

“You’re catching on fast. Say, how about you tell me your name and then we can sit down at the table to talk. I think there are a lot of things we need to set straight. Plus you look like you could use something to drink.” the older man offered with a warm smile. Only then did Dipper notice that his throat felt too dry for comfort.

“Uh, yeah, sure. My name’s Dipper Pines.” he offered and followed Stan’s twin into the kitchen after he had nodded. He sat down at the table while the man prepared a glass of water, setting it in front of him. He picked it up and quickly drank a bit, watching the other man sit down opposite of him.

“Alright, Dipper. That’s a peculiar name. My name is Stanford Pines, and it is very nice to meet you. Although, the circumstances of our meeting do worry me a bit,” Stanford said.

Dipper set down the glass and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Wait, wait. You’re Stanford? But, Great Uncle Stan was also called Stanford... Or could your parents just not think of a second name?” he asked with a frown.

Stanford blinked and laughed again, his raspy deep laugh. “No, I’m afraid my brother Stanley took my identity after I… after I got lost in another dimension. I don’t know why he did it; I guess we’ll both never know now. But I still need to know why you had my journal,” Ford said, sounding more serious now.

A lot of puzzle pieces seemed to fall into place in Dipper’s head. The person in front of him, his second great uncle that he’d never known of, was the author of the journal he’d held close to him like a Bible. He was related to The Author... Dipper didn’t know what to think of this.

“I found it… in the woods, close to the Shack, when I was twelve. I studied every last page of it and the mysteries of this town, until… well, until Stan was arrested by the government agents. Me and Mabel were sent home,” he explained. Saying Mabel’s name almost hurt.

“Mabel?” Stanford asked, with a slight frown, and Dipper nodded.

“She’s my twin sister. But... she vanished. I’m here to look for her,” he quickly said, not wanting to go into detail. Realization seemed to light up in Ford’s eyes and, for a moment, Dipper was hopeful that maybe he knew something about Mabel’s disappearance.

“I know how you must feel. Losing your twin is the worst feeling,” Ford said instead, and Dipper couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

“How did Stan die, anyways?” he asked quietly, looking into his half empty glass of water. He tried to remember the nice times he’d had with his grunkle, before the mistrust had begun blooming in his chest. He still felt terrible for leaving him to die, though. He’d not do the same mistake with Mabel, if she was even still alive.

“Bill Cipher,” Ford replied with a growl, eyebrows knit together in an angry expression. Dipper’s head snapped back up and he stared at his new uncle.

“Bill killed Stan? But… why?! I mean, I know he’s evil, but I don’t think he ever showed interest in my grunkle,” Dipper pointed out, feeling stupid for kind of defending the demon.

“So I see you know him. I expected such, since I overheard part of your conversation yesterday, but I didn’t know how well you know each other. I better start from the beginning.” Ford sighed and leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest. Dipper would very much appreciate hearing the entire story and thus he also relaxed, holding the glass of water in both hands.

Ford laid the journal down on the table in front of him and opened it right in the middle. This was one of the few pages Dipper had never managed to understand. It looked like a blueprint of some sort, but it was incomplete. He leaned closer as Ford pointed a finger at it.

“This was my biggest project. A portal that would open doors to many other dimensions. I worked years on this project, after moving to Gravity Falls, and I had help from my assistant Fiddleford McGucket.” Ford started to explain, and Dipper’s eyes grew wide.

“Old Man McGucket was your assistant?! That explains his memories from the Society of the Blind Eye,” he exclaimed, interrupting Ford. The man raised an eyebrow at him.

“You know about these loons?” he asked and Dipper snorted a bit, shrugging nonchalantly.

“Yeah. Me and my sister kind of disbanded them though. Took their own memories of the order. I kept the memory gun, just in case. Unless you stole that out of my backpack as well.” He sounded a little bitter at the last part.

“I’m sorry, I had to make sure you weren’t dangerous. Usually no one comes here for good reasons. But no, I didn’t take it out. That explains why it was in there, though. I see you’re a smart boy. I like that.” Ford hummed, sounding impressed. Dipper felt pride for the first time in years. He had impressed the Author of the journal - that was something to be happy about.

“Anyways, we built the portal. I will admit right now that I had also received help from Bill Cipher. It was the worst mistake I made in my life, but at one point I did make a deal with him. He was free to go in and out of my mind as he pleased, and in return, he would help me build the portal. He said he was a muse and that he had chosen me because I was so smart and capable. Of course, naive as I was, I listened to him. The portal was almost done when I found out that Bill’s true intentions were to use it to transfer into our world as physical entity and wreak havoc. I stopped working on the portal, but Bill still had access to my mindscape, and he tried to make me go insane. So I called the only person I knew I could trust. My brother.” Ford made a pause and Dipper tried to take in all of the information that he’d just been given.

So that’s why Ford knew about Bill, and that also explained how Gideon had been capable of summoning him with the help of the second Journal. He remembered the second one, only now starting to wonder where it had even vanished to after they’d defeated Gideon.

“I also got tricked by Bill once. He took control of my body, and I had to resort to using a sock puppet version of me as a vessel, until Mabel managed to defeat him with tickles and raw energy. Without her, I’d probably still be a sock.” He laughed a little, though he felt more like crying. Ford chuckled as well and reached out to pat the back of his hand a bit.

“Don’t worry. Bill tricked a lot of people in his lifetime. We might have made mistakes, but at least we learned from them,” Stanford said, making Dipper feel better. He was glad that Ford wasn’t disappointed about Dipper’s fuck up.

“What happened next is my least favourite part of the story. My brother and I had a fight in the basement where the portal was. I had asked him to go hide the last journal. I’d already hidden the other two, but I wanted to make sure the last one got as far away from here as possible, since Bill could still trace my every step. But Stanley refused and blamed me for his miserable life, even though he prevented me from going to my dream college in the first place. But that doesn’t matter! What matters is that we fought and opened the portal in the process. He accidentally shoved me inside, and just before I vanished into the multiverse, I threw my journal to him. I spent thirty years wandering through different dimensions, fighting all sorts of monsters and meeting new friends and allies, until one day the portal opened again. But when I stepped outside, it collapsed, and I found Stanley dead on the ground with Bill in a human body standing over him. I had never thought Bill would resort to such measures… He’d always seemed more like a puppeteer than a murderer, but it appeared I had underestimated his desire to win.” Ford finished talking, idly flipping through the pages of his journal while Dipper tried to process everything he’d been told.

Ford had spent thirty years in the portal. After doing a little bit of math, Dipper figured that the doomsday device the agents had arrested Stan for must’ve been the portal. Did that mean that…?

“If Mabel and I had come back, we might’ve been able to save Stan and stop Bill! I can’t believe this,” he cried out in frustration, pulling at his hair until it hurt. He was at fault that Stan was dead now.

“Didn’t you say you were twelve back then? I doubt you could’ve done much to save him, honestly. Bill had a physical form. He could have hurt you,” Stanford pointed out.

“Right. What’s up with that? I mean, he still has it. And why did he run away from you if he’s as dangerous as you say?” Dipper asked, trying not to think too much about the implications of Ford’s story.

“He had planned to rid himself of his body once the link between our worlds was established but I could act fast and I trapped him in this body of his, binding him to it. He still has some of his powers left but they are not strong or threatening. I have tried to get rid of him but he’s very good at escaping and I have more important things to do than to chase down a powerless demon.” Ford explained with a shrug, as if that wasn’t something totally impressive.

“How did you seal him to the body?!” Dipper asked, eyes wide.

“Magic. I have a special talent for dealing with magic and can cast some spells. It took me years to master some of them, since human bodies are not usually compatible. Maybe I can teach you... You’re my nephew after all; it is possible that you could possess the same properties needed to wield magic,” Ford said with an excited smile. It seemed the old man was just as enthusiastic about the prospect of teaching as Dipper was about potentially having the Author himself as teacher. He was so excited that he almost forgot the reason why he was here... Almost.

“I would love to, but first I need to search for my sister. That’s the reason I came here in the first place. I really need to get her back.” Dipper sighed, emptying the remaining glass of water down his throat.

“You might have a better chance of finding her if you stay with me. This place is rundown and abandoned, but I managed to produce some food and keep the Shack intact. How about it? I’ll help you find your sister; you’ll stay with me and help me with my studies,” Stanford offered.

Dipper looked at Stanford, feeling torn between saying yes and no. There was still one important question that was unanswered... If Bill had been stopped before he could wreak havoc, then why was this place destroyed and abandoned?

The young man started to feel dizzy again, thinking about this. He held his forehead, trying to concentrate.

“Yes. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” he heard himself say, not sure if he’d even consciously made a decision. But Ford had already stood up and patted his back approvingly.

“Great! I have the feeling we’ll be a good team. It’s so good to know that I have at least a little bit of family left. We need to stick together, Dipper.” The old man hummed happily and Dipper nodded weakly.

He felt himself starting to agree. It had been his dream to meet the Author, after all. He’d have a much better chance at finding Mabel if he put his trust in Stanford Pines. He smiled back up at the man and felt the dizziness start to fade.

Chapter Text

“What is that?!” Dipper gasped as he stared at the giant rundown machine that loomed above him. The room was only illuminated by cold neon lights on either sides of the wall. Stanford had led him deep into the earth below the shack. As it had turned out, the vending machine in the gift shop was actually a hidden doorway, leading right into the earth with an elevator. There were three levels, but Ford had refused to tell him about the second level. He only stated it was his study and that it was private. Although it did irritate Dipper, he could understand why Stanford would want to keep his work private for now. They had barely gotten to know each other, after all.

“These are the remains of the portal. I’ve started recreating it but I was missing the last journal. Who knew you had it the entire time. I’d have gone insane looking for it!” Ford explained with a light chuckle. The man turned towards Dipper with a kind smile. “I can’t believe you found it and kept it so close to you all the time. You’re a smart young man,” the Author added, making Dipper feel a little bit embarrassed.

“Oh, well, it was important to me. It still is, I mean. But I never thought I’d actually get to meet the one who wrote it. I thought that maybe he was dead already,” he replied with a slight shrug.

“Not dead, as you can see,” Ford replied, patting Dipper’s shoulder with a six-fingered hand. Dipper snorted and nodded, but tensed up a bit. Luckily Ford didn’t seem to notice; instead he turned back around to face the broken-down portal. Dipper walked up to him, putting his hands on his hips.

“So what are you planning to do with it? I thought you would have dismantled it by now,” Dipper asked, eyebrows knitted together.

“Dismantled it? No way! This is my life achievement. No, I’m going to rebuild it.” Ford answered. Dipper’s eyes widened and he turned his head to stare at Ford.

“Wait, what? I thought it was dangerous! Just because Bill’s not able to misuse it now, it could probably still open in a bad dimension, right?” the young man protested. He didn’t exactly know much about quantum physics and interdimensional theory, but from what he’d gathered, he had figured that the portal was a bad idea in general. When he had agreed to help Ford yesterday, he hadn’t expected to be helping him rebuild the very portal that ruined Ford’s life and, in the long run, killed Grunkle Stan.

“Yes, I know why you would think that. But don’t worry. I’ve got coordinates to a dimension I want to open that’s totally harmless. There’s no chance of something like Bill happening ever again... That is, if we keep him off our back. If the portal is restored, he might want to use it to get back to his home dimension and we can’t let that happen. So here’s what we’re gonna do: You help me rebuild the portal and keep Bill occupied. In exchange, I will help you research your sister’s disappearance,” Ford summarized their agreement from yesterday.

After they’d had their talk in the kitchen, Dipper had noticed how hungry he was and Stanford had revealed his apocalypse food stash. After eating something, Dipper had brought his belongings into his old room, where he had spent most of the day, writing in his own journal that he had started a few years ago. Although his wasn’t anything like Stanford’s; instead Dipper had started a dream diary, in which he wrote down and analyzed his dreams, trying to make sense out of them and hoping to find some clues as to what happened in his own psyche. He hadn’t come very far yet, though.

Stanford had told him he should rest, so that he’d be ready to start working in the morning. The night had been odd. He’d been full of melancholy and grief, and if he had dreamed something he couldn’t remember.

“Yeah, I know. Sounds good. I agree. But how am I supposed to keep Bill off your back? I have no intention of meeting him again. Not if I can avoid it at least,” Dipper asked while rubbing his eyes. He was still a bit tired, but not too much.

Ford walked around the room, seemingly searching for something as he looked through different stacks of papers and other curious-looking gadgets that Dipper would love to inspect. “Well, he will return, that much is for sure. I’ve been working on a device that is supposed to absorb all the magic energy he has left, but it’s not quite done. I still need a few parts, but since the town is vacant, we have to search for everything ourselves. Can’t just go out and buy it, what a shame,” the man explained; not much later he made a triumphant noise, retrieving something that looked like a futuristic gun out from a drawer.

Dipper stepped closer, although he had a weird feeling about this. “So what do you need his magic for?” he asked while taking the gun that Ford offered him. He didn’t feel quite right holding it, yet he couldn’t explain why... He had no problem using the memory gun, after all.

“It will be the perfect power source to get the portal running flawlessly, once we rebuilt it. Of course, normal electricity could work as well, but this has a much higher rate of success, especially when it comes to opening up a rift. Bill’s magic is one of the strongest in the multiverse and could work as battery with almost infinite power, even just the little bit he has left! Plus, we’d get him off our back once and for all,” Stanford explained in an enthusiastic voice, gesturing wildly.

Dipper looked down at the device in his hand. The weapon was mostly black with magenta coloured lines running from the muzzle down the shaft and connecting to the trigger. Attached to the back of the gun was a small cylinder with a thin wire inside, which Dipper guessed was the part where the energy could be stored. He was still a little confused on how this would actually work, though.

“Hey, Dipper. Aim at that target and pull the trigger.” Ford hummed, making the young man look up and follow his gaze. He did spot a triangular shaped target at the far side of the wall and heaved a sigh but turned towards it, holding up the gun. He still felt off somehow, holding it, and he wasn’t at all in the mood to even shoot a target.

It was true that Bill had traumatized him for most of his life and that he was absolutely ruthless and yet, Dipper couldn’t help but remember the panicked look in Bill’s eyes before he’d run off the other day. It just didn’t seem right to end up pointing a gun at him, especially since he was a human now.

“Why do I have to do this?” Dipper asked, moving his arm back down.

Ford frowned and crossed his arms. “I just wanted to show you how exactly it works. Like I said, a few parts are still missing but the actual projectile works already. Never handled a gun before, boy? You’ll need to learn how. I hate to say it, but this place isn’t exactly the safest,” the older man explained.

Dipper shook his head and concentrated on the target again. He could feel a bad headache starting in the back of his head. Taking a shaky breath, he placed a finger on the trigger and fired.

The projectile pierced into the target at such a high velocity that the rebound made Dipper jerk backwards, pain rushing through his wrist. He cursed, shaking his arm. Stanford laughed at the action, but patted his other shoulder. “Good first try! At least you hit the target. So what’s supposed to happen is that the projectile releases a special energy that serves like a magnet for magic and fills up the battery attached to the end of it,” the man explained, though Dipper was only half-listening, still trying to get over the painful feeling in his arm.

“So how do you fix that problem? That sounds rather specific,” he huffed after a moment while looking back at the target. He certainly wouldn’t want to be hit by that. It looked more than just a little painful. Speaking of painful, Dipper noticed that the headache had stopped, much to his relief.

“I need you to find a unique metal located in a crashed spaceship farther up the hillside,” Stanford concluded.

“Woah, woah! Hold on! An alien spacecraft? Here in Gravity Falls? And you want me to go in there?” Dipper gasped, not sure what to make of this information. Years ago, he would have been absolutely ecstatic at the chance to explore a spaceship. Now, though, the thought filled him with anxiety.

Stanford sighed and crossed his arms behind his back. “Yes. It crashlanded here at least ten thousand years ago and everything in there is long dead and deactivated. You most likely won’t have any troubles down there, so don’t worry,” he said and Dipper wondered if he was annoyed.

“Well... alright. If you say so,” the young man quickly said with a nod. Stanford looked pleased at that, roaming through the room again to retrieve a few items that he handed to Dipper. It was Journal One, some other kind of gun device, and an old-fashioned walkie talkie.

“I have information about the spacecraft and the metal I need in the Journal, plus you’ll need this magnet gun. You can use it to travel quickly and safely through the ship, but watch out, it’s very strong so don’t point it at yourself.” Ford laughed, showing Dipper how to turn it on.

“So how do I get into the ship?” Dipper asked, watching the older man’s hands working the magnet gun.

“You need to climb to the highest point of the hill, where you can look at the cliffs. It will be right underneath your feet. You can use the magnet gun to open a hatch on top.” It was a brief description, but Dipper was more or less confident that he’d find it. It couldn’t be so hard to find a giant saucer, after all.

“Alright then. I’ll be back as soon as I’ve found what you need.” He huffed, placing everything Ford had given him into his backpack. He was a little disappointed that he couldn’t just start the search for his sister, but decided that trusting Ford was this was his best option for now.

---

Reaching the top of the mountain that Stanford had described was harder than Dipper had expected. In addition to the weird reddish lightning that came from the sky, there were several fallen trees that littered the forest floor and blocked all easily accessible paths. It was only when he was already halfway there that he thought of asking Ford about the weird properties of this place and he facepalmed. How could he forget asking such essential questions?

Why was the sky permanently red and the town abandoned? What exactly was the magic shield and what was it supposed to keep out? It hit him, that maybe it wasn’t aiming to keep something out… but rather someone - or something - inside. Could this be referring to Bill? Dipper sighed in frustration as he climbed over yet another tree, landing not so gently on the other side. Pain shot up his feet and he cringed, leaning back against the large log to take a moment and let the pain subside. He needed to be more careful. If he broke something out here, who knew who or what would find him first.

Dipper didn’t linger too long, because he started to feel as though he was being watched. Out of the corner of his eyes he could swear he saw eyes opening on the trees, but whenever he looked, it was nothing. He laughed nervously as he started walking again. Just his paranoia acting up again. By now he should be used to weird hallucinations, and yet the vibe of this place got him every time.

Eventually he reached the top, glad to be mostly out of the denser part of the forest. While walking, he noticed that his steps were making muffled metallic sounds on the ground and he figured he was walking on top of the saucer right now. He took a deep breath and allowed himself to relax, excitement finally starting to return to him. He was about to enter a real spaceship! That was something he’d always wanted to do. Sure, he was feeling a little guilty about abandoning his search for Mabel to explore a spaceship, but he reminded himself that this was all for her. Ford would know how to help him search better anyways.

One failed attempt at using the magnet gun later, Dipper had managed to open up the latch that Ford had been talking about. He rubbed his nose that was still hurting from him hitting the ground a minute earlier. The gun’s pull was really as strong as he had been warned about.

Looking down into the hole, Dipper felt his heart beating faster in anticipation. There was a ladder descending into the spacecraft, but what struck out to him was the fact that the walls were in a triangular formation. It seemed like a small, unimportant detail, but it was usually known that circular building structures were usually more stable. The young man shrugged it off and started climbing downwards. When he was about halfway down the ladder he had to grab the flashlight he’d brought because it was getting too dark to see. It was one of the wearable kinds that he could place on his head. While doing so though, he almost slipped, and let out a panicked yelp before gripping the bars of the rusty ladder tightly, trying to stop himself from shaking.

Not too much later he finally reached the bottom, his feet hitting the ground with a metallic clang that echoed throughout the entire structure. Judging from the echo, Dipper concluded that the ship was enormous. How was he supposed to find this specific metal in here? The entire thing was built from some kind of metal after all!

His footsteps were loud enough to make Dipper feel as if he was giving his position away, even though Ford had said this place was absolutely safe. Yet again, he couldn’t help but feel like he was being watched. While exploring the long and winding hallways, he noticed weird chalk drawings on the walls. Cold sweat ran down his back when he noticed little drawings of Bill in his original form and he wondered who would leave those in here. There were eyes drawn everywhere the deeper into the ship he went and it didn’t help his paranoia. He could swear that he was hearing very faint whispers, even though the ship was almost completely silent, apart from himself.

“Shut up!” he yelled at one point, but then shook his head. He was just imagining it! His mind was playing tricks on him. In complete silence, the brain would make up some sort of noise in order to imitate the missing sense, and that was probably exactly what was happening here. Not to mention that the shadows forming on the walls, created by his flashlight, were making his brain even more stressed. A completely logical explanation! Dipper knew exactly how all of this worked.

Did it make him feel better, though? Not exactly.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he almost didn’t notice that the ground was about to stop existing underneath his feet. It was only when he almost walked right over the edge of a steep drop that he was pulled back into the reality of the situation. Dipper yelped as he tried desperately to regain his balance. Just as he was tipping over, someone grabbed the collar of his jacket, yanking him back quickly before he could fall over the edge.

Dipper’s heart was beating rapidly, adrenaline pulsing through his bloodstream as he shone his light in front of him. Large columns reached from the ceiling into the abyss below, making it obvious that there was more down there.

“Yeesh, kid. That’s definitely the fastest way down there, but not the smartest idea you’ve had.”

Dipper made a face at the second voice, speaking from behind him and part of him wanted to ignore it. But that was kind of impossible. Instead, he turned around and glared at Bill who now held up a hand to shield his eyes.

“Could you point that OBNOXIOUS accumulation of electromagnetic radiation somewhere else but my EYES?!” Bill hissed. Dipper groaned, but took the flashlight off his head and instead pointed it at Bill’s chest, so it wasn’t blinding him completely. Why did he care anyways? Maybe only because Bill may or may not had just saved his stupid pointless life.

“Why, THANK YOU, Pine Tree. So, what exactly are you doing in my new makeshift home?” The demon asked, then continuing, “I’m pretty sure walking right off that ledge there is not what you’ve come down here for, since the Gravity Falls cliffs would make much better scenery to end your miserable excuse for an existence.” Dipper noticed Bill was tapping his foot as if he was nervous or impatient.

“I’m looking for something,” he replied dryly. Dipper wasn’t exactly in the mood to speak with the demon he was set out to capture. In fact, this was incredibly awkward, and he was still standing way too close to that edge.

“I see, the old Fordsy got to you, didn’t he? What FLATTERY did he tell you about me? That I am the mastermind of all evil? That I eat babies for breakfast? That I want to blow up your miserable chunk of matter that you call EARTH?” Bill laughed, hands resting on his hips.

“Shut the fuck up, Cipher, or I’ll push you down there! I bet you can’t fly looking like this!” Dipper snapped. He had never been the most aggressive person, but Bill was pushing every single wrong button.

Bill got quiet, a sadistic grin spreading across his face. “Oh? Will you? Are you saying you’re a killer now, Pine Tree? I’M SO PROUD!” the demon exclaimed and Dipper flinched at the volume.

“What? No- No, I’m not,” he stuttered, biting his lip. He didn’t think Bill would throw something like that in his face. “Just get out of my way!” he quickly added, regaining himself. He tried pushing past Bill, but the demon grabbed his wrist again, pulling him way too close for comfort. Dipper struggled but the more he did, the deeper Bill dug his fingernails into his skin.

“You come into MY SPACESHIP and threaten to push me OFF A LEDGE and then expect me to let you go? Just like THAT? Hah! You humans sure are something. You’re just as entitled as the old sixer. He’s rubbing off on you fast.” Bill hummed, resting his chin on Dipper’s shoulder, making the young man’s skin crawl.

“What the hell do you want from me?” Dipper snarled, trying unsuccessfully to lean away from Bill.

“Oh, just a small FAVOR. You know, after I just saved your life and all. Unless you didn’t want me to!” Bill chuckled.

“You’re fucking insane if you think I’m helping you out after what you did to my uncle. Now you better let me go or I will hurt you.” Dipper reached for his magnet gun, hoping Bill wouldn’t notice. He needed to get away from him, one way or another.

“Wait, what DID I do to your uncle?” Bill sounded confused, but Dipper didn’t listen. It only took him a second to spin around, push Bill off and run to the ledge. Bill let out a surprised gasp when Dipper jumped off, down into the darkness. He quickly activated the gun, pointing it at one of the pillars and hoping to whatever god there was that it was metal. He felt himself being pulled towards it and managed to slide the rest of the way down. His feet hit the ground hard and he cried out, falling to his knees.

But he was still alive! After some test steps he also found that he hadn’t broken his feet. His heart was definitely still pounding in his ears though, even when he realized that he’d escaped Bill successfully.

“Dipper! Are you alright? If you’re dead, I swear I will find what’s left of your soul and make sure you have the worst afterlife ever conceived!” Despite all the stupid things Bill had said, Dipper almost felt like he sounded worried, even if his voice was faint from above. He let out a huff and rolled his eyes.

“Fuck off!” he yelled back and started wandering off, away from the ledge and deeper into the spaceship.

He could hear faint laughter from above that gradually started to die down.

And he couldn’t help but wonder why Bill had called him by his name.

Chapter Text

User: ShiningStar
Date: Saturday 29th July, 2021

Haha, remember how I said I was done with this? Well, seems like I was wrong. I don’t really know if any of you are even keeping track of this, but at this point I don’t really care that much because I’m just using this as an online diary now. Shout out to those of you who still bother reading! If you’re even real. No, I have not gone insane! ...Or maybe I have. Quite frankly, I’m not sure anymore.

Uhm, I really don’t know where to start or how to say this but, I guess I’ve made a new friend? Now, that in itself wouldn't be so shocking. I’m awesome! Of course everyone wants to be my friend. It’s just that… none of my friends had three angles yet. And I mean literal corners. Yeah, I’m talking about triangles. Sorry, I’m repeating myself. I’m kind of freaking out. I think he’s gone now and not watching me anymore but I could be wrong. He’s been stalking me for an entire week after all, why would he stop now?

Ok, I’m getting ahead of myself and probably not making any sense. So, you guys know the Eye of Providence? You know, the little pyramid on our dollar bills with the one eye. Illuminati confirmed, haha am I right? I’m right. I’m more right than I ever wanted to be.

Everything started about three days ago. Like I said, I wanted to forget about the whole experience in the woods and did my best to go about my day as usual. But I couldn’t control my dreams. I’ve been sleeping badly ever since I went to this stupid haunted place. I can never really remember what exactly I dreamt, but I know that my dreams are always in black and white. That never used to be the case, as odd as that sounds. Maybe it’s just a small detail, I know dreams can be a complicated matter, but considering what happened, I think these details might be important.

Apart from bad dreams, life seemed to be normal for a while. I did feel like I was being watched, but I supposed that was because of the dreams and the trip, so I shrugged it off. Well, now I have proof I’m actually being watched. More like stalked tbh. Not by a human or anything, no. By a - and I couldn’t make this up if I wanted to - floating little triangle guy. Yes, the one from the dollar bill. He even said his name is Bill.

Oh man, I feel so stupid writing this down, no one will believe me. I tried to snap a picture of him, but he wasn’t visible in it :( I’m so sorry. But I will show you a little drawing I made of him.

He looks kind of cute like that! But I’m still thinking I might be losing my mind here. On Thursday I went to school as usual, but when I opened my locker to get my textbook, this guy sat on the old journal I received the other day (he said, he gave it to me). At first I thought I was still dreaming and pinched myself, but nope! He was still there. Ah, he’s about as big as a nacho - as yellow as one too haha, I should just call him Nacho Man - and he can float around. He talks through telepathy I think, because when he spoke I heard him clearly in my head while no one else around me seemed to notice a thing. Maybe he’s only visible to me, too? That doesn’t help my case of NOT being insane, ugh. Anyways, Bill said he can’t stay in ‘this world’ for too long because it takes him too much energy to speak to me or show himself. I didn’t quite get it but it was obvious that he seemed exhausted, even for a living triangle.

For someone that only has one eye and no mouth he’s pretty damn expressive. You know, I’m thinking the ‘I’m insane’ theory is pretty logical. I mean, maybe I have some kind of disorder that makes me hallucinate now. I think I could live with that, as long as I dream up funny things like this guy.

Alright, so finding a talking triangle in your locker is crazy enough as is, but it gets worse. He returned on Friday and stayed a bit longer this time, so I had to hide him in my sweater pocket, just to be safe. He said some things that freaked me the hell out, though. Of course I know I can’t really trust anything he says because he’s most likely just part of my imagination, but he kept talking about some kind of supposed brother I have. He also doesn’t seem to like my ‘brother’ very much, because he keeps insulting him with a passion. It’s funny. But the problem is I know I’m an only child! There’s no records of any lost brother I might have had, so what he’s saying isn’t making any sense at all. Then again his existence doesn’t make sense either and yet, here we are.

Sometimes he talks in riddles. Especially when he seems upset. Or in dead languages that don’t sound as if they come from this planet at all. Could I really make up something like this? ...I honestly don’t know.

I haven’t told Paz about any of this. She’d probably break up with me for being a crazy ass bitch. That thought is depressing, MOVING ON!!!

Alright so - wait, what is happening…

Eloo39: I SEE YOU’RE STILL GOOD AT RUNNING FROM YOUR PROBLEMS AND WORRIES, SHOOTING STAR!!!

Oh great. Now he’s got access to my keyboard?!

Eloo39: CLOSE! MORE LIKE ACCESS TO THE ENTIRE WORKINGS OF THIS FABRICATED WORLD. BUT NOT FOR LONG, SADLY. THAT BITCH IS ONE STEP AHEAD OF ME EVERY TIME.

Look, Bill, or whatever. This is getting way too freaky!! Quit interjecting the things I write. The weird ass codes in my previous posts were already unsettling enough, now people will just think I’ve completely lost it.

Eloo39: IT REALLY DOESN’T MATTER BECAUSE THE PEOPLE HERE CAN’T THINK IN THE FIRST PLACE. IT’S CRUCIAL THAT YOU- OH, FOR NYARLATHOTEP’S SAKE! GOTTA DASH, SEE YOU LATER, KIDDO.

...Well, that happened.

I don’t really know what exactly that was, but I swear I will find out. Considering the fact that this guy won’t leave me alone anyways, I don’t have much of a choice. I’ll spend my time trying to gather some information on him, if I can even find any. I guess that’s it from me for now.

Whatever you decide to believe, I still thank you for reading this. You’re all DA BEST!!! *plasters a sticker on your forehead*

See you!

Chapter Text

His footsteps echoed throughout the darkness as Dipper followed the long winding passages deeper into the belly of the ship. Now that he knew that Bill was living in this place, he oddly enough felt less creeped out. He had an explanation for any weird noises now, or feelings of being watched. Plus, now he had the advantage. He wondered if Bill had any idea what Stanford was planning in the first place, but most of all he didn’t understand why the demon was trying to act all buddy-buddy with him. The last time he’d had contact with him had been when he was twelve and the creature had taken control of his body, making him ache for days.

The experience of being outside his own body still traumatised him to this day. It wasn’t as bad anymore as it had been a few years ago, but now and then he still felt like he was losing grip on reality. Truth be told, he had never really known much about Bill and his ultimate goals until Stanford had explained it to him and yet the Bill he had met twice now didn’t act at all like the evil person Ford made him out to be. Of course that could all be a trick.

Dipper facepalmed, cursing himself for being so stupid. Why should he believe a demon over his own uncle?! That was ridiculous.

Instead of overthinking everything, Dipper continued down the hallway, starting to believe that this would never end. Just as he had finished this thought, he ended up in a bigger room. The radius of his flashlight wasn’t really that big, but he could still manage to make out shapes of objects farther into the room. He swallowed and stepped further inside, surveying his surroundings. This place appeared to be some sort of storage room, although there were a few consoles as well, probably to monitor the work down here.

Dipper almost tripped over something and let out a startled noise when he saw that he had stepped onto what appeared to be the carcass of a weird creature. Probably one of the aliens. The body was long decomposed, leaving only a skeleton. After calming down a little, he fished for his cellphone, taking a quick photo. A small smile crept onto his face as the excitement of exploration returned to him and he hurried onwards, gazing around carefully for anything that looked like what Ford had described.

Eventually he pulled the journal out of his backpack, flipping through the pages until he had found the one that Stanford had marked. The metal he was looking for seemed to be some kind of hexagon-shaped plate. Humming, Dipper placed the book back into the backpack and continued to search. The air deep down here was lacking oxygen and he needed to get out as soon as possible.

Dipper reached another console that was full of dust. He pressed one of the buttons, just for fun, only to end up coughing as the dust swiveled through the air. He staggered backwards, tripping over something again and landing right on his butt. He cursed and shone his light at the thing he had tripped over. His eyes widened as he saw a stack of the plates he was looking for. Well, that had been easier than he’d hoped. Just as his hand reached out to take one, he heard footsteps entering the large hall. He reacted quickly, turning off his light, hoping that Bill had not yet seen him.

As quietly as he possibly could, he took the plate and stuffed it into the sack, next to the book. He tried to listen to the steps that were still wandering around the room. Bill seemed to be taking his time and it sounded more like he was taking a stroll than looking for him. Dipper could not see a single thing in the pitch black darkness, but a feeling of terror settled in his stomach.

Was this really Bill? Of course the demon was the only person that could possibly be down here, but somehow the way this person moved didn’t seem to match the other’s personality. Without changing the tempo, the footsteps grew louder and Dipper realized the person was clearly walking in his direction. He pressed the backpack to his chest and curled up against the console, hoping that whatever this was had not noticed him. And yet he could tell they were clearly making their way towards him. The footsteps were all he could hear until he was sure he heard deep breathing as well... This was definitely not Bill.

The image of the alien skeleton lying on the ground sprang into his mind and in the darkness he imagined the creature crawling towards him, bones somehow clearly visible against pitch blackness and sharp teeth reaching for him.

The footsteps stopped.

Dipper pressed a hand to his mouth. He felt the presence of something just a few feet away from him and his mind made up the wildest of silhouettes, his heart beating so loud he was scared the creature would notice.

Dipper could still hear the breathing, not loud enough to be identifiable, but definitely not part of his imagination. In this moment, he desperately wished he would just pass out.

Then the footsteps resumed, moving away from him. Whatever this was, it was leaving in a different direction. Dipper kept sitting in his position until he was absolutely certain the creature had left the room again. He wanted nothing more than to get the fuck out of this wretched place. He desperately wanted to blame this one on Bill too, but that was out of the question. The young man had no desire to find out what other creatures lived down here, though. He took a deep breath and finally moved, turning his flashlight back on. No one was there.

Dipper let out a sigh of relief and quickly made his way over to the entrance where he had come from. Just before he reached it, there was a beeping noise to his right. He spun around only to see a giant sort of drone come towards him. It was shaped like a sphere with a glaring red triangle on the front.

Dipper felt his heart race again and he took a few steps backwards as the drone floated towards him. The sound of someone running through the hallway joined the beeping of the alien machine.

“You activated the goddamn security system, how careless can you be?!” At the voice, Dipper felt almost relieved that it really was Bill this time. Only almost, though.

Before he could reply, the drone opened and four long cables reached out, wrapping around Dipper’s wrists and waist. He was effectively lifted up in the air, despite his best efforts of struggling. He looked down at Bill, panic filling him once again. For a moment, Dipper could’ve sworn he saw fear flashing in the demon’s mismatched eyes, but then his expression turned into determination. Dipper yelped when he noticed that he must have dropped his backpack at some point because Bill was picking it up from the ground now. It must have slipped off his shoulder when he’d been pulled up into the air.

“Get your hands off that!” he screamed, fearing that the demon would use the contents against him at some point. There were more pressing matters to worry about right now, though. The drone had pulled him inside itself and he was trapped in a translucent ball that now began to fly through an opening in the wall. Shit! He pressed his hands against the glass, trying to see if it opened, but it didn’t budge. By the time he turned around, he saw Bill running into a different hallway, probably leaving him to die.

He was jostled around as the drone flew through the ship at a high speed, and he felt as though he’d be sick. Bill had said something about a security system? How had he activated it? He’d done nothing! Except… pressing a button. He groaned and curled up, covering his face with his hands. This was it. He was useless. He couldn’t save Mabel - he couldn’t even save himself - let alone be of any use to Stanford.

The drone entered another large room, steering directly towards a weird metallic looking pod in the wall. Just as Dipper was sure they were going to crash into it, the drone almost melted into the pod, attaching itself to it. Dipper’s heart sank as he turned around, staring into the room as a few numbers were projected into the air... A countdown. The pod seemed to vibrate and Dipper knew that it was another tiny spaceship. In that moment, Bill entered the room, wearing the backpack and with the magnet gun in his hand.

“What is this thing?!” Dipper yelled, once again trying to break the glass, but only managing to bruise his hand instead.

“It’s a prison drone, you stupid meat sack! You’re gonna be launched off into the endless reaches of space. Or, I dunno, shatter into a million tiny pieces once the drone hits the goddamn barrier! Hah, that’d truly be an amazing way to die, don’t you think?? Too bad I still need you! So no dying on your agenda today,” Bill shouted, an amused grin on his face.

Dipper felt his hands starting to shake. Either he was going to be lost in space, shattered into pieces, or Bill would use him for god knows what. None of those choices sounded like an actual good option.

“The best thing is, you’ll owe me after I save your ass! Technically I already did that earlier but you’re so in denial, I bet you already forgot about that,” Bill continued.

“I’m never going to help you, Bill!” Dipper screamed, but Bill just shrugged. In retrospect, saying something like that didn’t further the chance of the demon actually helping him, but Dipper wasn’t ready to ask Bill for help.

Suddenly the counter reached a number that might as well have been a zero in alien language. The pod vibrated more and then it left the docking station, while a latch in the roof opened up. Dipper could see the dark red tint of the sky, which would most likely be the last thing he’d see. Just as the pod started to position itself, Dipper heard a loud clanging noise and he jumped a bit. Before he could turn to see what it was, the pod took off. The rebound was so strong that he was thrown against the wall of the pod.

Blackness swam across his vision. The last thing he felt before he lost consciousness was the feeling up speeding upwards into the red sky.

---

Dipper stood in the middle of a forest. The trees were giant redwood trees; the ones he knew surrounded the Mystery Shack. The world was gray scale and there were no stars or other lights in the sky ahead... Just dark clouds. Dipper recognized this place as the mindscape; he’d been here a few times before. He had managed to enter this realm after taking some of his medications for a while, but of course the only reason he even knew what kind of power this place had was because Bill had once tried to invade his uncle’s mind.

The fact that Dipper had managed to actively enter his own mindscape a few times had freaked him out. Usually humans weren’t just able to do that. Or, if they did, they didn’t really know what exactly this place was.

This forest was different from his mindscape, though. The location in his mindscape resembled more his house in Piedmont, with a few aspects of the Mystery Shack implemented. But now, he was smack in the middle of the forest, with nothing but darkness waiting behind every single tree.

Maybe this was limbo? Had he died and now he was stuck in this place? The thought filled him with dread. He’d always thought he would find peace in death. But if this was it, then he was just doomed to live in fear and isolation for the rest of eternity.

Dipper fell to his knees and sobbed quietly. He wished he had never come back. If only he could have forgotten about Mabel. If only he could’ve accepted that she was dead and he would never see her again. Maybe then he could’ve had a life. Instead he had to throw it all away.

Something patted the top of his head and he could feel a warm presence. He slowly lifted his head, only to see the demon he hated so much floating in front of him. He was smaller than Dipper remembered. Not even bigger than the palm of his hand. Dipper felt too exhausted, too resigned, to swat him away.

“Are you happy now?” he hissed, sounding bitter. The demon blinked and pulled his hand away. He didn’t speak, just floated away a bit. There were emotions in his eye that Dipper would’ve never imagined seeing from him, and he couldn’t quite make out what kind of emotions they were either. The demon closed his eye and swayed a bit, probably trying to convey the motion of him shaking his head.

Dipper sniffed a bit, never taking his eyes off the golden triangle. He was the only warm looking thing in this otherwise dead and frightening world. And Dipper hated that there was no indication of a threat. After everything that had happened between him and the demon, now he was trying to manipulate him even more.

“I will never trust you. I’m not that stupid,” he screamed, banging his fist on the ground. Bill just stared at him, sadness clouding his gaze. Why wasn’t he talking? Usually, the guy could never shut the hell up. Suddenly, he floated back towards his face and Dipper flinched, expecting to be slapped or worse. Instead, he just felt two tiny hands on his cheeks. Dipper sucked in a breath and bit his bottom lip. He felt warm, then heavy. His eyelids fell shut and the world faded.

---

His entire body ached. There was a throbbing pain in his head and his ears were ringing. When he tried to move, a sharp stab of pain ran up his left arm, originating from his hand, and he winced. He could hear fire crackling not too far away and above that noise two voices talking. No… they were screaming at each other. Dipper couldn’t make out what exactly they were saying, but it didn’t sound too friendly.

A groan escaped his mouth as he finally managed to push himself up, despite the pain. One of the voices faded and there was silence. Then, someone came rushing over to him and he felt arms wrap around his shoulders. The warm embrace he felt was as familiar as one could be.

Slowly, he managed to crack open his eyes. Warm brown hair was the first thing he saw and he could feel the person hugging him tightly, pressing their cheeks together. Their shoulders were shaking a bit, as if they were crying.

“Oh Dipdop. You found me. I was so scared!”

Dipper felt as if he was paralyzed. There was no doubt... It was Mabel. He knew, because he’d never forget her voice or the way her arms felt around him. Eventually, he moved and slowly wrapped his arms around her middle in return, burying his face in the crook of her neck. He felt her warmth and recognized her scent.

This was it. This was home. There were millions of questions forming in his mind, but right now he didn’t want to question any of this.

All he had wanted was his sister back. Nothing else mattered at this point.

“Mabel… I’m- I’m so sorry,” he croaked, his voice feeling hoarse. She just hugged him tighter and he felt one of her hands gently running through his hair.

“It’s okay, Dipper. It’s fine. We’re safe now. You don’t need to apologize,” she murmured and she sounded just as riled up as he did. Her voice had changed slightly, as she had grown older, but it still had the energetic and slightly high-pitched ring to it, as well as her familiar lisp. Dipper closed his eyes again.

“Yes. We’re safe... I’m so glad,” he mumbled, and they kept hugging for another few minutes before finally getting up and walking back to the Shack, hand in hand.

Chapter Text

User: ShiningStar
Date: Tuesday 2nd August, 2021

Things have changed. I can’t really explain what exactly has changed, because nothing really DID but just... Everything feels different? I almost feel like I’m not the same person anymore. School is still the same as always, the weather is nice with a bit of rain here and there, Mom and Dad didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, either. I guess the only thing that’s really changed is that Paz is acting a little weird around me and it feels out of place. She seems more aggressive than usual. (Granted, she’s not the nicest person to be around, but that’s always been our thing. I still love her despite her flaws.)

Bill‘s shown up once or twice, but only for a short time. He always seems extremely nervous for some reason, even if he tries very hard to pretend he’s a tough guy. But he’s basically a tiny floating nacho with a stupid hat and bow tie. It’s kind of hard to take him seriously. But he talks a lot about doing violent things to people, so I guess he has a lot of bottled up emotions. Maybe I should talk to him about it sometime. I know he’s trying to tell me something, but he just has to speak in riddles. I don’t get it! Sometimes I find a few codes lying around and I know they’re from him and then I’m left to decipher them. Ugh, that was never really my strong point. The other day he sent me a message saying ‘Sorry to burst your bubble’. Like, what? I’m so confused. It took me an hour to understand it by the way, ugh.

On top of that, today he left a letter in my locker that was filled with teeth!!! On each tooth there was a letter, I can’t believe this. BILL, YOU’RE SICK!!! Anyways, after about 9000 tries I finally got the right combination and it just said ‘Northwest Manor’. Am I supposed to visit my girlfriend? But why? I was there just three days ago. But I thought to myself, ‘Hey, whatever. Let’s do it!’ Because ignoring this won’t work. Bill’s going to make sure to annoy the hell out of me anyways and I don’t know what to do with myself. I feel like something is missing 24/7 and I can’t explain it to myself. I feel like Bill is trying to help, but it’s not doing much for me. I’ll keep you updated!





User: ShiningStar
Date: Tuesday 2nd August, 2021

Alright, this is definitely weird. I’m in front of Paz’s mansion but it looks… uhm... oddly vacant. As if no one’s been living in there for years. The paint is duller and in some places it’s even missing. The garden is completely overgrown and a few windows are broken. I don’t know what to do. This is impossible... It didn’t look like this when I was there last time. I don’t understand what is going on or why this is happening!!!

Eloo39: BREATHE, SHOOTING STAR.

Bill! Where are you?

Eloo39: NOT AVAILABLE TO GRACE YOU WITH MY ACTUAL PRESENCE, BUT I CAN STILL SEE YOU. AND YOU’RE NOT DOING A GOOD JOB AT KEEPING CALM, KIDDO. YOU GOTTA SLOW THAT BREATHING OF YOURS.

Well, what did you expect?! This is like the whole forest incident all over again. It makes absolutely no sense. And what do you mean, you can’t come here? You’re literally imaginary, aren’t you? Come on!

Eloo39: I’M NOT IMAGINARY BY ANY MEANS, YOU NUMBSKULL. I SAID I’M A BEING OF PURE ENERGY, THAT’S NOT THE SAME THING, DUH! YOUR MIND, AS CREATIVE AS IT IS, COULD NEVER MAKE SOMEONE UP AS AMAZING AS ME! BUT MY POINT IS: YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN.

Geez, I know that’s an answer, but it only makes me more confused! Why did you want me to see this?

Eloo39: I DIDN’T PARTICULARLY SAY I WANT YOU TO SEE IT, BUT NOW I DEFINITELY NEED YOU TO GO INSIDE. I SENSED SOMETHING CHANGED, BUT THIS IS NOT WHAT I EXPECTED TO HAPPEN SO SOON.

You want me to go INSIDE?! No! I don’t want to!

Eloo39: ARE YOU SCARED? MABEL PINES, CONFIDENCE PERSONIFIED, SCARED?

Stop being a jerk! Of course I am. Don’t think I’ve forgotten about what happened in the forest. I never wanted anything to do with these weird ass things! That’s not me!

Eloo39:: RIGHT, IT’S NOT. YOU KNOW IT’S PINE TREE THAT LIKES TO DO THESE THINGS AND YOU ENJOYED TRACKING ALONG BECAUSE HAVING ADVENTURES TOGETHER IS OF COURSE LESS INTIMIDATING. BUT YOU NEED TO GO IN THERE ANYWAY BECAUSE YOU DON’T HAVE A DAMN CHOICE, SO SUCK IT UP.

I don’t know what you’re talking about!

Eloo39: STOP COVERING YOUR EARS WITH YOUR HANDS - WE’RE LITERALLY HAVING A VIRTUAL CONVERSATION. THIS WOULD BE HILARIOUS IF IT WASN’T SO INFURIATING.

You’re the worst. Fuck you.

User: ShiningStar
Date: Tuesday 2nd August, 2021

Okay, okay I can do this. For anyone who is not A GIANT JACKASS reading this, I’m sorry. You must probably think I’m nuts. But I swear the things Bill, or Eloo (I just figured out that’s a code for ‘Bill’... I can’t believe this. He’s such a troll.), writes is really not me.

I did go inside. Well, I currently AM inside. I’m writing from my phone by the way, I forgot to mention this. Unlike last time in the forest I actually have internet access this time. Oh god, this place is so creepy. The lights are all off and dust covers everything. It looks as if no one has been in here for decades. The family pictures on the walls have the eyes scratched out, except for Pacifica’s. Vandals? Or something else? I’ve managed to calm down, sorry about that little outburst. I’m usually not that much of a scaredy cat, haha. It’s not like I dislike exploring, I just feel that it’s boring when you do it all on your own and so far, nothing in my life has indicated that supernatural things could actually exist, so this is kind of a first.

So far nothing scary has happened yet, but the whole atmosphere is enough already. So I searched the big hall and the kitchen, but so far it’s nothing but an abandoned house. Well, manor. Pacifica is filthy rich so they have this super huge mansion.

Eloo39: DON’T YOU FIND IT’S KIND OF OUT OF PLACE HERE IN PIEDMONT?

Oh, there you are. I thought you were going to sulk for longer.

Eloo39: I DO NOT SULK. I HAVE A MUCH HIGHER INTELLIGENCE THAN YOU. WHY WOULD I BE OFFENDED BY SOMEONE THAT CAN’T EVEN READ THE ULTRAVIOLET PATTERNS ON FLOWERS?

You were totally sulking. But whatever, if you say so. I never really thought about it. I mean, yeah, it’s a big ass mansion, but some smaller cities have those?

Eloo39: YES, BUT THIS ONE DOESN'T BELONG HERE.

You don’t make it easy. I’m going to check out the attic, brb.

Eloo39: YOU’RE SURE TAKING YOUR TIME, SHOOTING STAR.

OKAY, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? Bill?? I saw something move at the end of the room! It looked like a humanoid and it vanished behind a big painting? I think!

Eloo39: NOT ME. BUT IT APPEARS YOU’RE NOT THE ONLY PRESENCE IN THIS PLACE. SURPRISE!

Don’t ‘surprise’ me! You knew what I was getting into!

Eloo39: OF COURSE I DID! I KNOW LOTS OF THINGS! NOW FOLLOW IT.

Why are you like this? You remind me of one of those absolutely useless NPCs in some of those quest games. Only this time I don’t have an internet guide to solve the riddle, uuuugh.

Eloo39: CAN’T HAVE YOU CHEATING. AS MUCH AS I’D LOVE TO JUST EXPLAIN EVERYTHING, I FEEL LIKE YOUR BRAIN WOULD EXPLODE AND THAT’S NOT EXACTLY USEFUL TO ME.

Ghost hunter Mabel here with the newest update on the mysterious phantom of the girlfriend’s house: Behind the picture was a secret room. Spooky! I found tons of MORE pictures, jeez. They have so many walls and yet still too many pictures to put up. And just like the pictures in the hallways, the eyes have been scratched out. Man, someone doesn’t like eyes.

Eloo39: HORRIBLE. DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TAKES TO REGENERATE ONE?

Pretty sure humans can’t do that, freak.

Eloo39: RIGHT. I FORGOT YOU’RE IMPRACTICAL.

At least we’re not an isosceles. Ignoring the weird talking triangle entity, which is surprisingly not the weirdest thing happening right now, I haven’t found a trace of the person stalking me. But I did find my sense of humour again, so that’s a plus.

There seems to be nothing out of the ordinary in the attic, so I’ll leave.

Update: The atmosphere has changed again. I can definitely feel something watching me. Plus I think… the place got darker? The sun was shining when I was outside and technically the light shouldn’t have changed, but it did. It also got darker. I’m getting goosebumps.

Hey, partner, how about some uplifting comment?

Eloo39: DID YOU KNOW THAT GRAVITY WILL EVENTUALLY KILL YOU? THAT’S WHY OLD PEOPLE LOOK SAGGIER AND WEAKER, BECAUSE THE HUMAN BODY CAN’T WITHSTAND THE CONSTANT GRAVITATIONAL PULL OF THE ROCK THEY’RE LIVING ON.

Thanks for the fun fact, Mr. Nacho.

OH SHI-

Eloo39: SHOOTING STAR!

Sorry, sorry! I’m okay!! Just dropped my phone. I heard a loud noise to the right and a cupboard almost fell on top of me, holy shit. My heart’s racing.

Oh god, I hear footsteps coming out of the dark room to my left.

Eloo39: TIME TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE, KID. THIS IS NOT SOMETHING YOU SHOULD FACE YET.

What! But I barely found anything!

Eloo39: I MEAN IT. GET OUT!

No. I need to see what’s going on.

Eloo39: WHY DO YOU PINES NEVER LISTEN TO ME?!

Eloo39: SHOOTING STAR?

Eloo39: MABEL! ANSWER ME!

Eloo39: AGH!!

Chapter Text

Dipper’s head felt like it was going to explode, when he eventually opened his eyes. He sat up with a gasp, realizing moments later that that had been a mistake. His hand shot to his head, which was spinning on top of hurting. Every bone in his body ached and he had trouble remembering what the hell even happened. He did remember Mabel finding him. He blinked, looking around him. Mabel was nowhere to be seen. Instead he realized that he was in a large luxurious bedroom, full of dust. He was lying on top of the bed, which was in the same condition as the rest of the rooml. He made a face and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. A cloud of filth tickled his nose and he sneezed hard enough to worsen his headache. Dipper grit his teeth. Had his meeting with Mabel just been a dream? He remembered ending up in the mindscape… he thought he’d woken up to see Mabel’s face but…

His gaze rested on his hands, noticing that they were bandaged. A few red spots stained the cloth but otherwise he felt fine. How had he gotten here? And where was here?
The second question was easy enough to answer with a quick glance at the wall. The disapproving faces of the Northwest family loomed over him in the form of a big portrait. He almost fell backwards again, startled. Someone had drawn over their faces with sharpie. That made it a little less scary- Dipper couldn’t help but chuckle at the image of pacifica with glasses and a beard.
Finally, he got off the bed, walking to the door of the room. Now that he knew where he was he still needed to figure out how he got to the large mansion in the first place.

The floorboards creaked beneath his feet as he made his way down the long hallway, to the stairs that led to the ballroom. Dust particles danced through the air and he made it a point to ignore any slightly ajar door that he passed. He also tried his best to ignore the whispers in the air, that seemed to come from all sides.
Despite his best efforts, he still risked one glance into a room. A shadowy figure stood at the window, their back to him. He blinked and quickly moved on, bringing his hand up to shield himself from looking again. Nope, he really didn’t want to deal with spooky stuff right now! The encounter in the spaceship forced its way back into his memory and cold sweat began to run down his back, his breath coming faster.
Damnit Dipper, get a hold of yourself! He chastised himself.

Before the abyss of his mind could catch up, a noise from downstairs distracted him. Dipper reached for his back, only to remember that he didn’t have his backpack anymore. Drat! Without thinking, he grabbed the nearest object that was vaguely weapon shaped. Granted, an old vase could really hurt if that got smashed over your head, so it was still better than nothing. With careful steps he crept closer to the staircase. Someone was walking around downstairs still out of view. Dipper gripped the vase so hard that his knuckles turned white and slowly made his way down the stairs. The one good thing about marble flooring was that it couldn’t creak.

Finally reaching the bottom he listened for more noises. There! Around the corner, he could hear someone mumbling to themselves. Dipper took a deep breath and - gathering all his courage - he leapt forward, raising the vase above his head.
“Don’t move!” he yelled, as he stood in front of the invader.
“Oh haha, wow, Pine Tree!! What’s that? You’re going to defeat me with a flower pot? That’s adorable!” Bill turned around and regarded Dipper with an expression that was a mix of pity and annoyance. With a sigh Dipper lowered his arms and relaxed. He should’ve known. It was odd however, that the sight of the demon made him feel a little more at ease instead of unnerving him now. He didn’t know how to feel about that.
“Did you bring me here?” he asked after setting the vase back down on the ground.
“Who else? The ghost of a lumberjack? Although, we did have one of those here at some point! Not a friendly fella,” Bill said. Dipper rolled his eyes.
“What- what happened exactly? I remember the spaceship and-” he narrowed his eyes at Bill “the dreamscape.” Bill studied him for a few moments and then walked closer. Dipper’s mind screamed for him to step back, but he stood his ground this time. As much as he wanted to just ignore Bill and the possibility of him being not as much of a threat as Ford said, he needed answers. Desperately.

“Yeah you got yourself into a real big mess down there! Activated the security system. Almost smashed into the barrier! Good thing I was so nice to save your ass,” Bill chuckled.
“How did you do that?”
“That magnet gun the old Sixxer gave you. Turns out Alien spaceships are weak to magnetism! Primitive! You’d think extraterrestrials would be more durable than you earthlings.”
Bill walked past Dipper, across the ballroom. Dipper quickly followed him.
“Why are we in Northwest manor?” he continued
“That’s my second new home!”
“Seriously?”
“Pretty much every building in this town is now my home!”
Dipper was more confused than ever.
“Ugh- whatever. Listen- I.. thanks for saving me I guess, but if you think I’d do you a favor you’re wrong!” he said, out of frustration. Bill stopped in the middle of the room and turned around quickly, his face way too close to Dipper’s now.
“You’re being awfully difficult! To think I was happy-” Bill spat the word “-to see you when you arrived!”
“Happy? What?”
“Nevermind all that!” Bill shoved Dipper, anger flaring in his eyes. He turned around, but not before Dipper could see the anger turning into hurt for a split second.

Dipper followed Bill farther through the mansion. The demon was uncharacteristically quiet now, confusing Dipper all the more. If only he had his backpack! Then he could just leave. But without the metal and Journal 1 he could hardly return to Stanford. What would he think of him? He’d trusted him to get the job done and he’d already failed in the first hour.
Dipper desperately wanted to break the silence but that desire was combated by his refusal to have a conversation with Bill Cipher.
Instead he just stared at the back of Bill’s head, as if he could read his thoughts if he just concentrated hard enough.
Then he noticed something he hadn’t seen before. On Bill’s neck was a mark. A Tattoo perhaps? It was red and looked like chains with a lock at the side. Surely that was no ordinary tattoo. Without noticing, Dipper picked up his pace to get a closer look. Suddenly Bill stopped and he ran straight into him.

“What are you doing?” Bill asked, looking over his shoulder.
“I- nothing!” Dipper raised his hands in the air but then frowned.
“What’s that on your neck?” he asked after a moment. Bill narrowed his eyes at him.
“You suddenly care?”
“No, I’m just curious.”

Bill blinked and then laughed that eerie laugh. To be fair, it was less threatening without the unholy echo to his voice.
“Straight forward! I like it. You know, you don’t have to follow me around, right? Just leave. If you’re so dead set on not helping me, I don’t want you around anyways!” Bill snapped, the amusement gone. The volume made Dipper flinch.
“I’m not leaving without my things! Where’d you hide them?!” he shot back.
“Ohhhh. I thought you just wanted to bask in my radiance. Hold on, I have your things riiiight here.” Bill changed directions and walked into another room. Dipper was once again left to just follow.

They found themselves in the dining room. The table was set but just as dusty as the rest of the place. The demon couldn’t be here very often. Bill bent over one of the chairs and picked up Dipper’s backpack.

“Looking for this?”
“Yeah! Give it back!” Dipper exclaimed, nervous. Bill shrugged and returned to him.
“Nice gun, by the way. You gonna use that on me once I give you that?” Bill asked with a sneer, stopping just a few feet away. He was just about in reach.
Dipper felt the palms of his hands grow sweaty and he averted his gaze. Of course Bill had gone through his stuff! He hadn’t really expected anything else, but it still made him feel queasy to know.
“I- no. It’s just for self defense,” Dipper stammered.
“Hah! Right!” Bill pulled the gun out of the backpack and Dipper lurched forward. Bill raised it above his head, out of reach.
“That’s a magic extractor, you idiot! Do you think I’m stupid?!” Bill hissed.
“I wasn’t gonna use it!” Dipper yelled back, his voice cracking in panic.
“Yeah that’s right. Because you’re weak. Weak and pathetic. Why did you come here, Pine Tree? Huh? Why are you here?!”

Enough was enough. Without thinking, Dipper lunged forward and shoved Bill so hard he fell backwards onto the floor. He lost grip on the gun and it slid a few feet away. The momentum caused Dipper to topple as well and he landed on top of the demon, who was now squirming beneath him and yelling in pain. Dipper stared wide eyed at him.

“I break my hand for you and this is the thanks I get!!! Ungrateful brat!” Bill hissed, rapidly blinking away what looked like tears. Dipper grit his teeth and raised his arm, ready to punch Bill again in his rage.
“Don’!” Bill snarled, both his hands coming up to deflect the blow. Dipper saw the bandage around Bill’s left hand and stopped himself right before his fist connected. He’d broken his hand once. It hurt like a bitch.
He was still sitting on top of Bill, breathing heavily, his mind racing.
Bill stared back at him, trembling a little. After a moment he laughed, a nervous ring to it.
“You know I’m all about getting into people’s personal space, this is getting weird, Pine Tree.”
Dipper felt his cheeks burn in realisation and he scrambled off of Bill.
The both stared at each other, when Bill propped himself up on his elbows. Dipper couldn’t hold the eye contact for long.

----

A few minutes of awkwardness later, Dipper found himself sitting at the table, Bill opposite of him. The contents of his backpack lay in front of him. Except for the gun. Bill had picked that up again, idly running a finger over it.
“Why aren’t you fighting me?” Dipper eventually asked, his throat dry.
“Because I don’t want to. You’re already so messed up. I don’t think I need to add to that. I don’t think I could!” Bill replied, his gaze flicking up from the gun. There wasn’t a trace of a lie on his face.

“You killed grunkle Stan. I don’t understand why you are acting like I’m your friend!” Dipper said. Bill slammed his hand on the table. Dipper managed not to flinch this time.
“I did what?! I mean- of course that’s the story Fordsy would tell you!” he leaned back in the chair, arms crossed. He looked more like a sulking teen than a powerful dream demon.
“Are you insinuating Stanford is lying to me?”
“Well, duh! He hates me. And if I killed someone I also wouldn’t brag about it,” there was a moment of silence.
“Ok, maybe I would. Depends on the person.”
Dipper stared at the table, trying to process what Bill had just said.
“Then how did Grunkle Stan die?” he finally asked.
“Killed by his own brother! Tragic story.” Dipper could hardly believe what he was hearing.
“Ford did-”
Bill nodded.
“You really think I’d believe that?” Dipper said through gritted teeth.
“I don’t care what you believe, kid. I just need you to know that Ford is not who you think he is. You asked what this is,” Bill pointed at the mark on his neck.
Dipper could only nod. His thoughts were running wild.
“It’s a binding mark. I am effectively trapped in this vessel. No powers to call my own, unless I go to sleep and project into the mindscape. Which is what I did earlier, remember?”
Now that dream made sense. So it really had been Bill.
“You were so small-” he muttered. Bill made a face.
“Yeah, like I said, I’m almost powerless.” he grumbled.
“None of this makes any sense.” Dipper said and buried his face in his hands.
“I’m not your enemy Pine Tree.”
“Stop calling me that!” there were tears in his eyes now, as Dipper lifted his head.
“Do you know how much trauma you caused me?! I’m fucked up and it’s all your fault!” he screamed. It almost felt cathartic to throw this at Bill. He’d wanted to let him know this for so long.

“I know, Dipper. Although i can’t take credit for all of the mess in your mind!! Part of that is your own making.” that felt like a punch in the gut. There was nothing but understanding in Bill’s face and it made Dipper feel ill. He had expected Bill to deny everything. To torture him more. Or to just laugh in his face. He hadn’t anticipated this. Dipper knew that Bill was right, which made it worse. It was just so much easier to blame someone else.

Bill leaned forward and pushed the gun back over to Dipper.
“If you want to shoot me, at least make it quick, I’m pretty damn bored of this existence! If you don’t feel the intense desire anymore to obliterate me, then all I ask is that you hear me out.”

Dipper stared at the gun and picked it up. His gaze flicked between the device and Bill. Then, with a sigh, he stuffed the gun into his backpack and nodded.
Bill watched him and relaxed.
“Perfect. I know you don’t trust me. At this point I’m not even sure if I should trust you. But we’ve both got something we want.”
“Do we now?”
“Of course. You’re looking for your sister and I want this curse to be broken!”
Dipper blanched.
“How do you know I-”
“I was in your head, kid.” Bill said and then leaned closer. Bill smiled with a sort of giddy expression, as if he had been waiting to say whatever came next for a long time. Dipper felt dread and anticipation rise in him.
“And you’re in luck, Dipper! Because I know where she is!”

Chapter Text

User: ShiningStar
Date: Tuesday 2nd August, 2021

Eloo39: WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?

Eloo39: DON’T MAKE ME MANIFEST-

Boy! Sounds almost like you were worried!!! That’s really cute for an unholy illuminati cornchip monster.

Eloo39: I WILL PERSONALLY RIP ALL YOUR LIMBS FROM YOUR BODY.

Relax! The way you were talking, I was expecting something really terrible but whatever was making noise has left. For reals though, why were you overreacting like this? What’s your deeeeal?

Eloo39: DON’T MENTION THAT WORD.

Overreacting?

Eloo39: WHAT? NO- WHY WOULD I- DEAL!!!

Deal?? Why?

Eloo39: BECAUSE KID, I WISH I COULD MAKE ONE WITH YOU RIGHT NOW BUT ALAS. IT SHALL NOT BE AND I’M STILL MAD ABOUT THAT!!!

Ok whatever, buddy. I’m starting to get really annoyed with you! You make me come here into this spooky alternate version of my girlfriends house and then you want me to leave immediately when something spooky comes up? It frankly doesn’t make any sense and I’m about done playing your game. I’m going home now. And I’m logging off!!!! So if you want to talk you better manifest your entire three corners to have an EYE TO EYE talk!!!!

Eloo39: SO VERY HILARIOUS, SHOOTING STAR.

Eloo39: I HATE YOU BOTH SO MUCH.

User: ShiningStar
Date: Tuesday 7th August, 2021

So, it’s been five days. Bill hasn’t shown up again. I couldn’t keep my phone off for longer than three hours, Paz would’ve gotten real worried. (Also I’m kinda addicted to candy crush woops) But it seems he’s being sulky anyways, so whatevs! I’ve thought a lot about what happened back then.... And I know I said I was done with this but I can’t sleep. I mean- I can. But it takes a good while to fall asleep! My brain is trying to make sense of the mess my life has become :( The other day a cute boy walked past me and I didn’t even notice! A tragedy. (And before you say anything, I can have a girlfriend and still think boys are cute!!! Get offa my case!) Anyways, I visited Paz literally the next day after the creepy shit happened and the mansion was totally fine. I just- I don’t understand. Did I just have a very crazy hyper realistic dream? Did I slip into an alternate universe? The weird book I found mentions a portal into different universes. It also mentions Bill. I have to admit, after Paz was so dismissive about everything I stored it away into the deepest corner of my cupboard. But I’ve felt the strong urge to look into it again recently. I didn’t really find too much of an answer to my questions but reading this book evoked a weird sense of melancholy. Can’t quite place it. Staring at the pages too long makes me want to cry. Sorry, this entry kinda derailed here. Ugh, I thought writing this down would help me figure something out but I’m more conflicted than before. Everything feels weird and out of place now. My classmates, my city… My relationship. Sighs. I guess I’ll try to talk to Paz about all of this today. I really need her support. Thanks for listening, if anyone is still keeping track of this all haha. If not, then thank you internet for giving me relief by letting me yell into the void! Maybe one day the void will yell back.

Eloo39: FOR ALL THAT’S UNHOLY DON’T TELL PACIFICA ABOUT THE JOURNAL-

User: ShiningStar
Date: Tuesday 7th August, 2021

Telling Pacifica was a mistake.

Eloo39: DAMNIT.

Oh. You’re back. A bit late.

Eloo39: I WAS DEALING WITH AN EQUALLY ANNOYING PINES SPAWN. I JUST DON’T HAVE THE ENERGY FOR BOTH OF YOU. QUITE LITERALLY.

What? You know what? Whatever! Pacifica broke up with me. Not only that. She also kind of turned into a terrifying monster with like six eyes and large fangs. I should start from the beginning uhm- She got like… super mad when I showed her the Journal. Said something about an intruder. And then everything just went super dark and she- she- Man- I’m still shaking. Ah- anyways she turned into a terrifying monster and I only managed to escape because I poked her in one of her six eyes with a stick. Still got the Journal. When I asked for the void to answer I didn’t mean literally expand around me- Everything is still so dark. As if someone just turned off the sun. or the moon and the stars. There’s just nothing in the sky. I’m wandering down my street right now but I can only see a few feet ahead. The streetlights don’t help much. I feel so alone. Like I’m actually the only person alive. Remember when I said everything feels off? Yeah like… like I’m in the matrix or something. Everything’s unreal. Now I have confirmation I guess.

Eloo39: YOU’RE NOT ALONE. YOU HAVE ME!! BOOM! CORPOREAL!

Oh heck! Guys…

Chapter Text

His hand was shaking as he pointed the gun in Bill’s face now after all. The demon across from him didn’t seem all too phazed by the movement. Almost as if he’d expected it.

“What did you do to her?!” Dipper said, his voice dark.

“Why is it that you always think I had anything to do with the misfortune of your family?” Bill replied with a huff. Dipper grit his teeth.

“Why do you THINK?!” he said.

“Yeesh, I take control of your body once and you hold a grudge for nine years.” Bill waved his hands dismissively.

“She’s stuck in her own brain, Dipper. I wish I could show you but her body’s running around here somewhere.” Bill explained, although none of what he said really explained anything.

“Could you speak like a normal person for once?” Dipper insisted, but lowered his arm again. “I’m not a normal person but fine-” they could hear the front door of the mansion being kicked open.

Bill’s eyes widened. For a moment he just stared at Dipper and Dipper could’ve sworn there was something akin to actual fear in the demon’s eyes. It was gone in the blink of an eye however, leaving Dipper wondering if he’d just imagined it. Footsteps echoed through the Mansion. He cast a nervous glance to the door at the end of the room.
“I’ll find you and explain everything.” Bill said and when Dipper turned around he saw him just climbing out of one of the broken glass stained windows. Once again, his feet were frozen to the ground by indecision.

“Dipper! Dipper, thank heavens you’re alright!” Stanford’s voice finally reached his ears and Dipper let out a sigh of relief when his great uncle appeared in the doorway.
“Cipher was here, wasn’t he?!” Ford asked and Dipper remembered, that he was still holding the gun in the air. The weight of it was suddenly too heavy and his hands too sweaty. The device dropped out of his hands and to the ground with a loud noise. Ford bent down and picked it up, inspecting it.

“I- Uh… he just left.” Dipper mumbled.

“He left?! You mean you let him leave?”
“Well- No. He ran when you barged in. I uh- had him but got distracted!”
Stanford made a face and walked over to Dipper, resting a hand on his shoulder. A usually comforting gesture, yet Dipper couldn’t help but feel his hand weigh on him with a bit too much pressure. His mind was still running seventy miles per hour, trying to somehow make sense of the bits and pieces of information Bill had given him.

“What happened to you? I was worried when you didn’t come back… I shouldn’t have sent you into the ship by yourself, I’m sorry.” Stanford spoke so fast, Dipper almost missed the apology.

“What? No! No, don’t worry, I’m capable of doing things myself!! I’m like… 22 hahah I’m fine.” he didn’t want Stanford to think he was still some kind of child that needed adult supervision. Or was he trying to convince himself?

“It’s not about age, Dipper, it’s…. You’re new here and I just sent you into a dangerous place without making sure you were prepared. And now you almost got hurt.”

Well, he couldn’t really argue with that. They both stared at the ground awkwardly before Dipper flashed his grunkle a smile.

“I’m fine. Oh, also I found what you’re looking for.” he reached for his backpack and pulled the piece of metal he’d gathered out of it. He couldn't believe Bill had actually returned all of his things. That seemed so out of character for someone that wanted to harm him.

“Oh that’s perfect! Good job, Dipper!” Stanford exclaimed and took the debris, the energy gun vanishing back in the pockets of his coat. Dipper was glad to be rid of it, yet unnerved to know of its existence in general.

They left the old mansion immediately. Dipper cast a glance back towards it and saw a silhouette staring down at him from one of the upper rooms. He felt cold sweat drip down his back.

“Great Uncle Ford… what exactly happened here? Why is the town deserted? What’s with the forcefield?” Dipper asked after they were through the rusted gates, frozen in time and unable to close and shut out the danger. For a moment Stanford seemed like he hadn’t heard him but then he let out a deep sigh.

“Alright, you deserve to know. That forcefield? That’s to make sure Bill doesn’t escape. Created it myself.” Dipper blinked, staring up at the scarlet sky.

“You? But that’s clearly magic…”

“Yes, boy. I’ve learned a few magic techniques while I was stuck in the multiverse for 30 years. Had several good teachers. Who knew magic ran in our family?” Stanford turned to look at him while they were passing through a dense thicket.

“Wait- it what?”

“You see my extra finger?” he held up his hand, “Anomalies like this indicate a stronger connection to cosmic energy, or, magic. Most humans don’t have the ability to tap into that power source. But some do.”

Dipper’s mind was racing.

“Maybe you also have the potential! Do you have any anomaly?” Stanford asked him, catching him off guard.
“Uh- what about this?” he asked and lifted his bangs, to reveal his oddly shaped birthmark. Stanford leaned closer and then clapped in his hands so suddenly that Dipper flinched.

“Yes! Dipper, do you know what this means?!” the old man asked and put both hands on Dipper’s shoulders, making him a little uncomfortable.

“Uhhh-”
“That I can teach you the ways of magic! Isn’t that exciting?” Ford’s enthusiasm should have been contagious. Learning magic had been one of Dipper’s childhood fantasies after all. But one glance at the sky told him again that whatever magic this was, it was fishy.

“Yeah. Exciting.” he forced himself to smile. Ford didn’t seem to notice his lack of enthusiasm and just kept walking with big strides, making it hard for Dipper to keep up. He kept rambling to himself more than really saying anything to Dipper and he zoned out. suddenly he realised that Ford had never really explained anything at all.

---

Back at the Mystery Shack, Stanford immediately started to work on the Portal again, dismantling the debris that Dipper had gotten him. Dipper found himself standing in the laboratory, watching his great uncle work. He got more and more antsy with each second, wanting to help or do anything . But whenever he asked, Ford just said it was fine or told him not to touch specific gizmos and levers.

TIme passed agonizingly slow and the burning question on Dipper’s mind was too much to handle, to contain.

“Are there ghosts in this town?”

Ford stopped working and slowly turned around to raise an eyebrow at Dipper.

“I thought you read my journal. Then you should know there are indeed. What a question-”
“No, I don’t mean regular ghosts.” Dipper shook his head and crossed his hands in front of his chest. His cheeks burning.

“I’ve been seeing shadow figures and heard whispers. But they never do anything! And all the townsfolk are gone...”
Stanford stood up and dusted himself off. Dipper could feel another headache coming on, stronger this time. The pain pulsed behind his temple and he blinked a few times.

“Well, I suppose you’re onto something. The townsfolk are not exactly gone.” Ford said slowly, averting his gaze. Dipper felt cold sweat run down his back.

“When it happened… everyone got, for a lack of a better word, glitched off this plane of existence.” Dipper heard the words but couldn’t make any sense of them.

“That’s what you’re seeing. It’s the townsfolk but they’re not fully here. They’re trapped between our plane and one that’s close to ours but not quite the same. You know about the Mandela effect? That plane’s responsible for that.” Ford went on to explain,

“Mandela- the thing where people remember situations differently?” Dipper asked, his head spinning in confusion. “How is that related to-”

“Don’t you see? Wait!” Stanford cut him off and hurried over to his desk where he grabbed Journal 1 and flipped through it’s pages.
“Aha!” he walked back over to Dipper and practically shoved the book into Dipper’s hands. He almost dropped it.

Plane B

My recent studies have concluded that Gravity Falls appears to be one of the most extreme places where our Plane (Plane A) and our twin plane (Plane B) [Memo to myself: Come up with better names] are closest together. It seems that sometimes holes open up in space time and objects or people from Plane B slip into A and the other way around. In fact, I can’t even tell you if I am actually in Plane A or B now! But I’ll just conclude that the Plane where I am is always A. I am the center of my Universe.

Above the text was a little graphic connecting two alternate universes and on the right page was an explanation of the Mandela Effect.

“Ok makes sense, I guess, but why do I see them as shadow people then? That’s not normal.” Dipper said and closed the book.

“That’s because the barrier I cast muddled up the connection of the planes. I may or may not have accidentally corrupted Plane B- or A. Or both. And now there’s a sort of Limbo like state between both of them, where the townsfolk from our plane got stuck.” Stanford said and went back to the part of the machine he had been working on.

Dipper stared at him in disbelief.
“ You caused this and haven’t fixed it yet?!” he burst out. Ford shook his head.

“I will! Once I fix this portal I can set everything straight again! It’s on my list.” he answered dismissively.

Dipper felt his hands shake and he balled them into fists. How could the author be so careless about this ghost town he created. It had been nine years! What had he been doing all this time? He had the sudden urge to leave and go find Bill to get more answers. But was the demon really more reliable than his family ?

“What was it ?” Dipper asked instead.

“It? A really bad movie based on a sort of bad book.” Stanford answered.
“Seriously? I meant the thing that happened that caused you to make this barrier!” Dipper really wasn’t in the mood for bad pop culture references.

“Oh. Right, right. The calamity that brought me back here. When Stanley reactivated the portal. If you studied my journal, you know that reactivating the portal used to be dangerous. Not anymore, though. I’m making it safer now. But Stanley…. Being Stanley- he had no clue what he was doing. Just followed my, admittedly sub par instructions.” Stanford finished brazing a pipe and stood up, removing his gloves.

“When the portal activated, Bill took the chance and entered our reality. In the fight that followed, Stanley got killed by Bill before I had the chance to banish him into this form. I was still new to using magic.” Stanford stared at his hands, his voice cracking a little.

“If I’d been more prepared- If I was stronger, Stanley would still be alive.”

Dipper felt his throat tighten and tears stung behind his eyes again.

“If I hadn’t convinced Mabel to leave we- we could have helped.”

Stanford smiled at Dipper. There was a shared moment of pain between them.

“We messed up a fair bit, didn’t we?” he said.

Once again there was a moment of silence. Dipper couldn’t believe he’d almost doubted the only family member he still had left. His idol from his childhood. Although a nagging feeling remained that Bill hadn’t been lying either.

Suddenly a thought struck him that made him stop trying to think about who was telling the truth and who wasn’t.

“Wait! Could it be that Mabel accidentally slipped into the alternate reality when she came here?!” he asked, eyes wide and heart beating faster with new found sliver of hope.

Stanford tapped his chin and then nodded.

“You might be onto something there! I assume, like Stanley, she doesn’t have an anomaly and connection to magic like you?” Dipper shrugged but shook his head.

“Then maybe that has something to do with it! All human life forms were trapped in limbo except for you, me and Bill. All people with magical ties! Of course! Dipper, you’ve got real potential.” Stanford explained and grabbed another Journal, labeled 4, starting to write something down.

Dipper felt dizzy with relief. There was a chance he could find Mabel!

“Is there a way to enter this limbo?” he asked excitedly.

“There should be! We can try to find a spell together that can send one of us in there and look for her. Fixing the portal will still take a good while and the faster we find your sister the better, right?” Stanford said. Dipper nodded his head so fast, his neck hurt.

Stanford spent the rest of the day cooped up in his study, jotting down possible equations and spells, while Dipper roamed through the Kitchen of the old shack and prepared food. He stared down at his hands, wondering if he was really able to perform magic.

The thought of seeing his sister again, for real this time, gave him hope and confidence. He would do anything to get her back.

Anything.

Chapter Text

User: ShiningStar

Date: Tuesday 2nd August, 2021

I guess this is pointless now. No one’s reading it anyways.

That thought makes me really sad for some reason.

---

Darkness closed in on Mabel and she shook, clinging to her phone. The light of her screen was the only source of brightness and it illuminated her face enough to show the glistening of tears in her eyes, and a smile that was more a shield against the fear she felt. Then, out of nowhere in particular, a bright yellow glow appeared in front of her. Her head snapped upwards and her eyes widened when she saw the small triangle with the one eye floating in front of her.

“Heya kid!” his voice was clear and somewhat echoey. She could hear him clearly, even though he had no mouth. It was as if he projected his words right into her mind. For a few moments she just stared at him in shock. This wasn’t the first time she’d seen him, but it was still always odd. Especially since their correspondence had happened through text for the most part.

“Take a picture, it lasts longer!” Bill snapped when she still hadn't answered. Without even thinking, Mabel actually lifted her phone and snapped a picture.

Bill laughed.

“Man, you’re hilarious shooting star. At least you listen to what I suggest!”

Finally Mabel found her voice again.

“You have some explaining to do mister cornchip monster!” she said, new found strength in the knowledge that she wasn’t entirely alone now. The darkness was still looming like an entity in itself, threatening to crush her with the weight of dread of what might lurk just out of sight.

“First of all, I’m a demon. And I will explain, but let's get out of here first. This place is DULL.”

Mabel wanted to ask, where the heck she was supposed to go when there was nothing but Bill had already snapped his finger and an instant later, she found herself in the middle of a meadow, surrounded by large pine trees. The world was lighter now, although still devoid of colour. Everything was grey. Everything except for Bill and herself. A soft breeze rustled the needles of the trees. She felt that she should be scared of what might be lurking behind the trees, but instead all she felt was a strong sense of security and… home. The wind was neither cold nor warm. Any sense of sensation felt unreal, so to speak.

Bill floated to the ground, sitting down, even though she could hardly understand how a two dimensional shape could really sit .

“Get comfortable, Shooting Star- or are you also traumatized by nicknames? Do you prefer Mabel?” Bill prompted her and she snapped out of her momentary daze, sitting down - cross legged - in the grass. She placed her hands in her lap and shook her head.

“No trauma here! Yet. I might actually have some now after that monster girlfriend experience. And I’m afraid of the dark now! Yay, trauma.” she tried to joke it off, but the mirth in her voice was a mere facade, easily to detect.

“Great, because really who wouldn’t want to be called Shooting Star?” Bill said and clapped his hands. “Or Pine Tree for that matter, your brother is a real bore.”

Mabel made a face and shook her head.

“Pine Tree is a really dumb nickname. And also I don’t have a brother.” she said exasperated. Bill floated up from the ground and right in front of her face, wagging his finger in a tsktsk motion.

“Meanwhile, your non-existent brother is trying real hard to find you. The poor kid is practically going mad, trying to figure out where you are. Was about ready to shoot me for the information. You’ve seen him before too. Remember the trip to Gravity Falls?” he prompted.

Mabel felt cold sweat forming on her back as she remembered that horrible trip into the middle of the woods, where she almost got lost. Now that she thought harder about it, she remembered this greyness. It had seemed invasive and threatening back then. Had almost consumed her soul. When the trees had grown eyes, now in hindsight, Bill’s eyes, watching her every move. She remembered getting in her car and the sheer terror she felt when she looked into the backseat mirror and saw a person that looked like her, only beaten, bruised and bloody. A macabre reflection of herself she’d assumed. A vision of her death perhaps? The mirror vision had seemed different from her, somehow she’d known it wasn’t really her but she had no other explanation.

“Mirror me?” was all she could say, surprisingly little words for the onslaught of thoughts that were racing through her mind all at once.

Bill made this weird chuckling noise again and pat her head.

“Right you are! Mirror you! Do you have ANY IDEA how hard it was to get that projection through here? HOW MUCH ENERGY that cost. Poor Pine Tree came through all mangled, didn’t intend for that.” Bill floated away again, seemingly not able to stay still for long.

“So that wasn’t a vision of death? I was pretty sure this meant I was going to die in a horrible fiery car crash!” Mabel exclaimed, not sure how she should feel about this revelation.

“Yeesh, no. You’re not due to die before the-”
“LALALA!!! DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT! Seriously, dude, no one wants to know the day of their death!!” Mabel exclaimed.

“False. There’s several people that want to know. There’s even some websites about it, although those are all fake, obviously!” Mabel groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Ok, whatever! Brother. I have a brother? Where is he? Why don’t I know of him and Most importantly: Where am I? The matrix?”

Bill clapped his hands enthusiastically.

“Now here come the important questions! And you’re much faster than Pine Tree. This is pretty much exactly like the matrix, although this movie was a bunch of hogwash! The mere notion that machines could outgrow their creator is clearly simple superstition and a way for humans to tell themselves they could have outgrown their fake god creator! Haha! As if life had that much of a purpose. In fact-”

Mabel’s expression changed from anticipating to bored within a few moments. Bill would have probably kept on rambling if she hadn’t slapped her hand to the front of his being, snapping him out of it.

“Stop being a NERD and get to the point! I’m not a philosophy student!!” she shouted. Bill’s eye glared at her and he pushed her hand off, with his little arms, readjusting his bow tie.

“Alright, alright. You are in fact trapped in your own mindscape. It is sort of like the Matrix, in the regard that your consciousness is trapped in your mind and cannot access your real corporeal body. However, the Matrix was a computer program that kept a bunch of humans in that made up world. In your case it’s just you personally.” He explained, waving his arms around while trying to explain. Mabel nodded slowly.

“Yeah- Yeah ok I get that. So this is like a lucid dream? One I can’t wake up from?”
Bill once again smacked his hands together, glee clearly visible on his…. Face?

“Yes, yes! You’re much smarter than I anticipated!!”
“Rude…”
“You can’t blame me, out of the two of you, your brother was the brain, when you were twelve!”

“Pffsh, yeah that seems on brand. I didn’t give a DAMN as a kid.” Mabel said with a small smile on her face.

“So you can project into my mind? Have you been playing around with my perception?” Mabel asked, the smile fading.

“Yes, and no. I have given you hints about your past. Gravity Falls, the Journal. Your memories are impossible to access for me. You need to get them yourself. And I’m afraid we don’t have much time now that she knows I’m here.” Bill floated over to the trees and stared into the nothing that lay beyond them.

“She? Bill, please, I need the whole picture!” Mabel got up and walked over to him.

“You have been trapped by another demon. One that, with the help of a person I wronged, managed to banish me into a corporeal form with very little energy. Just this act of visiting you in full here is draining me every moment, I won’t be able to stay much longer or I risk dying for real. I hope Pine Tree appreciates the measures I go through to help you both.” Bill sounded somewhat sulky but Mabel didn’t even want to ask.

“This demon is currently inhabiting your body and she has full control over this space. I have created this little clearing over the past years. It is shielded from her for now, even if I leave. You need to find your memories before she finds you and just erases everything I just told you!” he said urgently.

Mabel felt the blood drain from her face.
Everything she had learned… could be erased again? She’d be at the mercy of this demon. The demon that had pretended to be her girlfriend. To love her- Everything, her entire life was a LIE. A big fat stupid LIE. The urge to figure out the truth was so strong, it made her shake. She wanted her life back. Her REAL life.

“How do I do that?” she asked, her throat dry and scratchy.

Bill pointed into the woods that lay in front of her.

“Somewhere in there lies an old Shack. The Mystery Shack. That’s where she keeps your memories locked up. You need to find it and unlock your memories to gain back control and power over your mind. But I suspect she’ll be trying to stop you. And I can’t come with you, I’m sorry. I’ll try to keep in contact via your phone.” Bill floated back in front of her face and poked her forehead.

“You’re strong Shooting Star. You can do this!” he said encouragingly.

Mebale smiled.

“You’re so nice, Bill. Somehow I feel like that’s not very YOU.” she said. Bill laughed.

“I used to be your worst menace!! But things change. Now I just need to get this through your brother’s thick, anxiety riddled skull!!! See you around, Shooting Star! Burn bright!” and with that he vanished.

Mabel was left alone at the edge of the clearing, all light and colour gone. She took a deep breath and peered into the trees. She felt a pull towards the darkness that lay ahead. The homely feeling was still there, however dread was now creeping up from beyond the trees like reaching shadows. There was no way back now. She could either fight for her memories, or relent and go back to living a fantasy. And she had enough of that.

She took a deep breath and then set out, walking into the thick trees, embracing the dark.

---

It felt like she had been wandering for hours. The light didn’t change, but she was now very lost among the trees. Even if she had wanted to give up, she’d never found her way back to the clearing. And even if, what was there to gain? No, she could only move forward.

Then, finally, she saw something through the trees. There, in the distance. The outline of a house. Or a cabin. She began to run and soon broke through the last line of trees, finding herself in front of the Mystery Shack. Without knowing why, tears filled her eyes as a strong sense of melancholy, belonging and grief filled her.

Her feet were frozen to the ground and she just stared at the familiar, yet unknown building. She expected the door to open and someone , she couldn’t remember who, to come out and greet her. A phantom that she couldn’t define and yet knew she should be able to recall. Her brother? Pine Tree- Bill had never told her his real name. Was that on purpose?

She finally found the strength to move forward and stepped towards the house, onto the porch. She stared at an old battered couch in front of the door and could imagine someone sitting on it. She felt someone smile at her and raise a hand - holding a cold beverage - to her in greeting. And yet, there was no one there. A silent sob escaped her throat and she pushed the door open, stepping inside the building.

“Oh- Oh no.” the words came out in a whisper when she entered the house. Before her lay a labyrinth of corridors, staircases, doors and rooms. Voices could be heard around every corner. She carefully stepped towards a door and tried to pull it open, but it was locked. And so was the next. And the one after that.

With a sinking feeling she realized that this was going to be much harder than she had anticipated. She groaned and leaned against one of the walls, staring at the entrance, that was still in reach. The door still open towards the forest.

If her memories lay behind these doors, how was she ever going to access them?

Then she facepalmed. A key. Of course. She needed to find keys. But where could those be? She’d never been very good at solving riddles. But it was fine, it wasn’t like she had anything better to do.

Except now her attention snapped back towards the treeline when she saw something move out of the corner of her eyes. Her heartbeat quickened and her eyes widened when she saw the silhouette of a figure off in the distance, slowly moving through the trees towards the house. Their movement was jerky and unnatural. Fear gripped her so hard she shook, as she watched the figure move closer ever so slowly.

She leaped towards the door and slammed it shut, before pulling a dresser in front of the door. Maybe she didn’t have as much time as she thought.

“Go, go, go Mabel. Shine bright! Find that key!!” she said to herself before deciding to follow the left corridor, deeper into the house.