[AN]: Enjoy!
I don't own Gravity Falls, I own Esther Carols, yadayada pfft.
Gravity Falls in the summer was crisp and serene. Its night skies shone with sugar stars and the fireflies danced with tiny torches, played their silent songs. In the distance, the falls crashed against rock like God's hands playing stone drums to call forth the twilight; pines freshened the air.
Esther ran, far and fast. To her chest she pressed a sheet of paper. Its edges whipped in the wind she created with each blind step down the slick stone avenue. The cool air scratched her throat, burned her lungs, but she was indifferent to the ache in her chest and legs.
Down the street she ran, this ever familiar road where her friends lived, where she rode bikes and met schoolmates after finishing her homework. The cobblestones had long since risen to create a disagreeable surface for cars, but the road was as flat as a freshly paved highway beneath Esther's feet.
The privacy and solace of the woods lay ahead. Behind, a howl of voices and calls for a girl named Esther.
She crossed the threshold of the forest, letting the pines and oaks swallow her. Her dark hair caught in a branch and she gasped, the noise too loud in the stillness, but the branch ran through and let loose. A quarter of a mile in, she finally began to register the burning in her calves. Her vision swirled, the silhouettes of stumps and trees blurring into one greasy black mess around her.
Esther threw herself down on a large boulder, wet from the recent rain. The cold water soaked through her jeans.
In the privacy of the woods, she sobbed heavily, hideously, shamelessly. She cried until her throat hurt and she felt sick to her stomach, all while clutching that piece of paper. The sleeves of her hoodie were soaked by the time she caught her breath and the paper was crumpled in the middle.
With trembling fingers, Esther read the note once more, memorizing each horribly poisonous word until they flashed red and gold behind her eyes.
This can't be happening, she prayed. Please, don't let this be real.
The moonlight poured from the stretching canopy above to illuminate the bone-white parchment. The words were real. This was happening.
Esther sniffed, sliding to the ground with her back against the stone. The cold water wet her hoodie now. She didn't care. She was content to stay here until sunrise—no, forever. In the woods, things were different. In the woods, she was far from cares and anxieties, conflict and reality. Here she could stay until she died.
But Esther had perverted the peace of the forest by bringing this note with her. This note meant that she would be leaving Gravity Falls, never to return. It meant that her family—close and extended—would be shamed and torn apart by ugly truths and scandals. No Stanford, no Harvard. All of her hard work would be for nothing and she would have nowhere to go where the name 'Carols' was not known.
Esther pulled her knees to her chest. This note meant that she would never have a chance at a normal life, college, or entrepreneurship, like she had always dreamed. And now its words were red and gold against the night's silvery backdrop, seared into the precious skin of her vast wilderness. Adulterated.
A twig snapped shrilly somewhere close by. She whirled around with acid coating her tongue, searching for the midnight beast that stalked her. Her evergreen fortress was neither impenetrable nor private. In her upset, Esther had failed to pay mind to the furry killers that owned this land. She scanned the area, watching for glinting eyes or large masses with shoulders and a head full of teeth. She suddenly remembered articles about missing hikers and destroyed campsites, mangled corpses and skeletons licked clean.
She rose slowly from the leaves, heart pounding. Don't freak out, she reminded herself. Don't panic. It could be nothing. Best get out of here soon, though. As she got to her feet she turned to look over the boulder, finding nothing in the moonlit wild. She took a deep breath to calm herself, inhaling the sweet sap fragrance, and found that peace was returning to her in slow, tiny waves.
"What's got you all jumpy, doll?"
Esther squawked and turned towards the alien voice, losing her balance on a root that couldn't have been there before, and toppled back onto the slick boulder. The hairs at the nape of her neck bristled.
The man dressed in a yellow—no, gold—a golden coattail suit and black tie had asked the question. His gloved hands, one over the other, clutched a sleek black cane in front of him. Esther struggled not to stare, but a single amber eye peeked out from beneath his shaggy blond bangs, shaded by the rim of a top hat. Single, because where his right eye should have been was a triangular eye patch.
Esther flung herself behind the boulder and stared, wide-eyed, terrified. Where had he come from? "Who are you?" she demanded. Her voice was croaky from crying.
The man pointed a finger at her, chuckling, like she'd just made a joke. "Good one! The old 'who are you and what do you want' line! Classic."
The man's voice was…incredibly unique. He had to have been throwing his voice, faking it for some reason. There was no way that nasally drawl was real.
"But since we both have questions in need of answering, how 'bout an answer for an answer, hm? Sound reasonable, doll?" He raised his only eyebrow.
Esther studied the freak with the cane who wanted to play games. He reminded her of some carnie conman that called loudly for people to enter his tent for a game of chance. He was something out of a story, a ghost from a children's book with a cat-like disposition.
She had absolutely no idea what to say. He'd caught her so off guard and, not only that, he'd called out her next move—to ask what he wanted. So Esther blurted out the next best thing: "Go away."
"Rude," the man mumbled. "Look, doll, there's clearly a level of trust that needs to be established here. I forget that some people aren't as trusting as I am." He took a step forward, using his cane as a prop rather than a crutch, and Esther took a step back. "Definitely not as trusting as I am," he added.
Esther fumed. "Well excuse me," she exploded, forgetting herself. "If I'm a little flustered! I mean, some guy sneaks up on me in the woods and expects to be my best friend?"
He laughed—a sharp blast. "Fair point, doll, but—"
"Don't call me 'doll.'"
Something close to anger flashed across the man's face, dousing Esther's fire. She wasn't angry or startled anymore. She was scared.
But the man started laughing again, and she realized that what she had seen was some form of…amusement? "What else am I gonna call ya? 'Pine tree?' That's already taken." He went into a soft fit of giggles. He was clearly an escaped mental patient who had found a dress-up trunk.
She had to get out of here fast.
"Right…well, it was nice meeting you, um…"
The man tipped his top hat gracefully, exposing his sandy mat of hair. His lips spread into a devilish smile. "Cipher. Bill Cipher, doll. But you can call me the greatest thing that's about to happen to you!"
Esther blinked. "Excuse me?"
Bill Cipher returned his hat to his head and stood tall. "Well, to your family, that is. That whole answer-for-an-answer thing was really just a nicety. See, you've got your answer—my name—and I had my answer before I even asked the question." He smirked. "'What's got you all jumpy, doll?'"
A thousand thoughts swarmed in Esther's cortex, a grey matter froth of confusion, fear, and curiosity. Her brain choked on the man's words. The night air felt abruptly chilly. She backed away, prepared to run for it. "Look, I'm sorry. I have no idea what you're saying and I really have to get going—"
"Marcus Towers."
A silence passed, pregnant with tip-of-the-tongue questions and clenched jaws, knowing stares and tortured thoughts. "What about him?" Esther finally asked, locking her green eyes on Bill. He stared right back.
Bill shrugged. "Oh, the name just came to mind. Read an article 'bout him the other day that said he was the third richest man in the world as of March this year." Esther stiffened, and she knew Bill had noticed. "It also said that he has donated a total of twenty billion to charity, earning him the Humanitarian Award and a 65% popularity rating. Not bad, eh?"
"Guess so. He seems like a great guy."
"Ha!" Bill shoved a finger at her, eye alight. "You filthy rotten liar! You hate his guts! You want to see him hung out to dry from the window of his penthouse!"
"What?" Esther had always been a bad liar. It's why she never cheated in school. "You're crazy!"
Bill laughed. "So? You're a liar, Esther Carols."
She gasped. "How do you know my name? Wait, never mind. I'm leaving. You're crazy!" She turned to the edge of the forest and bolted.
Two yards in, something shot out from behind a tree and nailed her in the stomach, something slender and dark that knocked the wind out of her. Esther doubled over on her knees, coughing and hugging her ribcage. Past her curtain of chestnut hair she watched two polished shoes and the end of a cane appear.
"'Crazy' ain't synonymous with 'wrong', doll," Bill clarified. "Sorry 'bout the blow—it was the fastest way to get you to stop."
Esther was close to tears, and not because of the hit. She was terrified. First this guy sneaks up on her without so much as making a sound, then he starts talking nonsense about dolls and trees and billionaires and sounding like a loon.
Now teleportation? Magic? Whatever it was, it was unnatural and scaring her stiff.
She shuffled back in the dirt, kicking at him with worn sneakers, sniffling back tears. "Who are you? What do you want?" She didn't care how broken she sounded, or cliché.
"You're asking the wrong questions, doll," said Bill. He snapped his fingers and Esther found herself rising from the ground and being placed gently on her feet by invisible hands, as careful as her father's.
Her mind raced. She was sure she was hyperventilating, but between tearful gasps she breathed, "What are you?"
Bill's mouth stretched into a signature Cheshire smile, and Esther realized for the first time that he seemed to emanate his own light source, a soft golden glow. "Now you've got it."
"All you gotta do is start asking the right questions and the whole world falls into place, huh?" Bill began to pace slowly and casually in a circle around Esther, but with each step he seemed to grow. He was flying! Bill Cipher was ascending an invisible winding staircase! Esther began to realize that she hadn't avoided the wolves of Gravity Falls after all.
A magician. "What do you want, Mr. Cipher?" she asked, hating the weakness in her voice.
"Pshaw, 'Mr. Cipher' is for a later time. Call me Bill, hun!"
"Please, I just want to get back home."
"Another lie," he said with a flourish of his cane from above. "You wouldn't have run in the first place if home was where you wanted to be! You always this untruthful, doll?"
Esther shouted, "Stop calling me that!"
Bill ignored her. "You're scared. That note in your pocket just ruined your life and your family and their legacy. 'Towers' is the name to fear every waking moment and every step you take belongs to him and the Towers household." He paused to ensure that Esther was listening. "You're desperate, and I'd bet someone else's right arm that you'd be willing to do anything to save your family from their inevitable disgrace, but more importantly, you're ready to put your own neck on the line to save your own future."
Esther glared at him. "I don't know how you know all of this, but it's none of your business! And if you're implying that I'm selfish and self-centered then you're a true moron. Marcus Towers doesn't care about anyone or anything but himself and his money, so how dare you—"
"Oh don't get so dramatic, Carols, I'm just leading up to the meat of the matter." Bill pulled out a gold pocket watch from his brick patterned vest and glanced at it. He crossed his legs Indian style, midair. "Usually I cut straight to the chase but I've enjoyed our little banter! Also: not a moron. I did just kind of blow your mind with my extensive knowledge of this whole ordeal."
Esther threw her hands up and shook her head. "What are you even talking about? What do you even want?"
Immediately Bill was inches from her, almost nose to nose and feet firm on the ground again. "I want to help you, Esther Carols! We have found ourselves in the extraordinary predicament where we are both in need of something. You need shelter from the oncoming storm, for all the dirt to be swept under the rug. I need something, too!"
As much as Esther wanted to back away from Bill, the well-dressed lunatic, she held her ground. Gritting her teeth helped, as did focusing on his words rather than the unlikely scent of sugar. "What do you need?" she asked.
"A favor!" He threw himself back into the air and beamed like a child.
"A favor?" That couldn't be good. "What kind of favor?"
Bill shrugged. "Dunno yet, but I'm sure it'll be handy when I do!"
It all clicked. "You want me to owe you a favor. And when you need it you expect me to drop everything and do it for you because—"
"Because I'm about to save your skin! Simple, easy and fair! Glad to see you're catching on." With a soft swoosh he dropped to hover so he was level with Esther and whispered, "What do you say? How's about a deal, doll?"
The sound of her own heartbeat boomed in her ears. Everything this man was saying, what he was promising, all seemed too good to be true, but something was wrong. Maybe it was the fact that she was conversing with a one-eyed magician who knew absolutely everything about her life and it all seemed just a tad too story-like to be real. Maybe it was the shock from her life falling apart and being pieced back together again in a matter of an hour that was giving her a sick feeling in her gut. The odds were that what smelled fishy was the gleam in Bill Cipher's amber eye and his eagerness to swap good deeds.
Nevertheless, she mulled over Bill's words. He had called her selfish. He had practically said that she was more willing to die for her own future than the welfare of her family. Esther had always considered herself a mostly selfless person—she loved her family and would do absolutely anything for them. But when it came down to it, she guessed, her dreams of Harvard or Princeton would end up carrying her away from her family, and she had realized that long ago, even comes to terms with it. Esther Carols was more than prepared to turn her back on everything and everyone she knew to achieve success.
Even after all they had done for her…
Bill "sat" patiently and waited for her to answer, watching the gears turn behind her eyes. He had shown more than enough evidence that he was an extraordinary being, capable of things that only existed in fiction and myths. Who's to say he couldn't fix the mess her family was in?
And besides, if he didn't follow through, if he was a phony, she naturally didn't owe him a dime.
"Why should I trust you?" The question came out before she could swallow it.
Bill put a hand to his heart. "After all we've been through… Nah, I'm kidding. You have absolutely no reason to trust me, doll, other than the fact that you can't afford to do anything but!"
The answer caught her off guard. Someone who wasn't to be trusted would have insisted that they could be trusted, right?
One of Bill's gloved fingers tapped impatiently against his knee. "Okay, look, I understand the predicament you're in, but it's not like I have nowhere to be." He pulled out his watch again and returned it swiftly. "I'm actually quite busy so if you'd please…"
Esther took a deep breath. What was there to lose? It was time for Esther Carols to sacrifice something for the people she cared about. "What are the terms?"
Bill flashed white teeth. "Now we're talking!" He snapped his fingers. A floating contract appeared next to him. "Alright, since terminology is important in these matters, I'll review officially: 'I, Bill Cipher, offer an opportunity for the threats inscribed on the note in Esther Carols' pocket to be lifted in exchange for a single favor that can be redeemed at any point in time despite the nature or severity of said favor.'"
It unsettled Esther a little that Bill never once looked at the yellow-tinged contract, as did that last part about 'the nature or severity' of whatever favor Bill didn't know about yet. Everything else appeared to be in order, though.
"Sounds good," Esther confirmed. "Where do I sign?"
Bill made a pfft noise with his teeth. "Signatures are so overrated. There's nothing sincere in scribbling on a piece of paper, even in blood!" He exploded with violent laughter. There were more than a couple screws loose with this one.
"What then?"
Bill caught his breath and righted himself in the air. "A good old fashioned handshake will suffice, doll, nothing more!" He thrust out his right hand. "Do we have a deal?"
Esther gazed at the hand, noticing for the first time a ring on Cipher's middle finger with a round, blue gem set at the head. While the gem was smooth and plain, tiny symbols—triangles, stars, elegant curves—encircled it and wrapped around the band. Somehow, she decided it suited him.
Just like Harvard was going to suit her.
"Deal." Esther slapped her hand into Bill's and immediately a light blue fire erupted around the shake. She screamed and tried to pull back but Bill held fast while he laughed, "Totally normal; completely harmless!"
The fire bathed the forest around them in a pale blue glow, growing brighter by the second. An ache swelled throughout Esther's whole body, like the weakening soreness that comes with the flu. She moaned and dropped to her knees, unable to stay standing.
She fought her eyelids against fluttering shut. Just before she surrendered, Bill Cipher yanked her close so they were eye to eye, and she swore it glowed as he whispered, "Pleasure doing business with you, doll."
The familiar fluff of Esther's pillow was the first thing she felt when her alarm buzzed at 8 the next morning. The light might as well have socked her with a brick for the massive headache it gave her. She moaned into her pillow and rubbed her temples.
And that's when she remembered. All of it. The note, the woods, the deal, everything. The magician Bill Cipher who had promised to save her, to save her family.
There wasn't any chance that it had all been a dream, right? Including the note?
Esther sat up, ignoring her pulsing head, and watched the covers fall to reveal her filthy jeans and red hoodie. Even her shoes were still on. She smelled like trees and dirt.
Not a dream.
Okay, Esther thought. If all of that was real…and that handshake was definitely real—I'm still sore…then we're all good right? Everything's hunky dory?
After a relaxing and much needed shower, Esther emerged into the living room where her mother was gripping a steaming cup of coffee. She could hear her dad clanking dishes in the kitchen. He cleaned when he was nervous.
Taking a deep breath and conjuring a smile, Esther waltzed in, pretending that it was another peaceful summer morning. "Morning, mom!"
Mrs. Carols tore her gaze from the wall and met her daughter's eyes. "Sweetie." Her voice and hands trembled. She quickly set her coffee down and asked, "How are you feeling?" A pot crashed into the sink in the other room. A shuffle of steps and Mr. Carols was in the doorway, still in his dressing gown. He had dark circles under his eyes. "Honey! How are you?"
"I'm doing fine," Esther answered calmly. "And you two? You don't look like you got much sleep, dad."
"Neither of us did," said Mrs. Carols. "How could we?"
"Have you given thought to the offer?" Esther's dad asked. She could tell he was trying to stay collected. Exasperation brimmed at his eyes.
Esther frowned. "Offer? What offer?"
Her parents looked at one another. "Mr. Towers' offer, sweetheart. Don't you remember?"
She took a deep breath. "Last night is…a little hazy at the moment. What's going on?"
Her mother was on the verge of tears. "We're in trouble. Mr. Towers has threatened to—"
"I know the threats," Esther quickly said. The more they said it, the more their nightmares became a reality. "What was the offer?"
Mrs. Carols began to weep, seeking solace in her husband's arms. He continued, "Marcus has offered to wipe away everything—the debt, the under the table deals, everything—if…" he swallowed. "If you marry Nathan. Our money goes into the Towers pot, like one big payment. It's a whole lot of old money/new money garbage, but he's willing to forget everything if we…"
Esther finished. "If we give him everything."
Through the haze and blinding sun Esther could spot the boulder ahead. The note was back in her hands, but the writing on it was different than it had been only hours before. It crumpled in her fist.
She checked that the coast was clear and cupped her hands around her mouth. "Cipher! Bill Cipher! If you're there, show yourself!"
Only her echoed words answered back before fading into the distance. She threw her fist in the air, holding the note. "This was not our deal! You promised to fix this, you swine!"
Silence.
Fury rose in her throat and she screamed. "Come out, you coward!"
A wind raced through the pines, ushering in dark clouds that turned the morning as black as night. Deafening thunder spliced with jagged angles of blue lightning above the mad swaying and creaking of the forest. Esther crouched behind the rock and covered her ears, looking in all directions for a man in a gold suit with one eye.
As if on cue, a crack like a falling branch rang above her, and Esther looked up to see a flash of white light flatten into the casual form of Bill Cipher, who flew horizontally with his head resting on one bent arm. The world seemed to go black and white, as if frozen in time.
"I thought I heard my name being called! I didn't even give you my number or anything! Weird how that works, huh? Almost like it's destiny!"
"You!" Esther shrieked.
"Yeah, me! Don't sound so surprised! You called me, after all!"
"You broke our deal!"
Bill shot up, wide-eyed. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down there, doll!"
"No! I won't!" Esther threw the crushed paper at Bill with all her might. He floated out of the way swiftly. "You said you would fix everything! You said you would get rid of all the threats on that note, and you lied! Now I have an ultimatum? Marriage? To a man who's worse than his father? In what world is that better than what would have happened?"
Bill grinned to himself. "Actually, quite a few. In other worlds the price is much higher—"
Esther exploded. "Enough! Enough of your rambling! You're insane! The point is that you swindled me!"
Bill puffed his chest. "No, I didn't 'swindle' you, kid. You just didn't read the fine print." With yet another snap of his fingers, the contract reappeared in front of her and Bill recited, "'I, Bill Cipher, offer an opportunity for the threats inscribed on the note in Esther Carols' pocket to be lifted in exchange for a single favor,' yada yada, blah blah blah. There was diddly squat about all of your problems going poof. The world just doesn't work that way, believe it or not. No no no—I forged a way for you to avoid Towers' threats all while maintaining your family's public reputation…at a price. Still, there's no humiliation, and there's no danger."
Esther's face went numb.
"It's all there in black and yellow, pal." There was a smile in his voice. "You got your backdoor out of degradation and ruin, and I've got my future favor to look forward to." He flexed his fingers. "I love surprises!"
"This…" She was going to say 'this isn't right' but the words fell away. She looked up at him. "This isn't what I wanted."
Bill's indifferent shrug made Esther want to cry. "It's what you agreed to and…" Blue flames engulfed his right hand. "It's what you shook to."
Anything Esther could have said caught in her throat. He was right. As much as it pained her, Bill Cipher was right. What he had planned had literally been right there in front of her, read to her, and she was so eager to have her problems solved at the drop of a hat that she couldn't recognize when she was being played.
She was no better off than she had been. And she was in debt to a…a…
"What are you?" she asked numbly.
The flames went out. "What do you think I am?"
"Enough games." She sounded weak, tired. Probably because she was. But she shrugged and answered, "I thought you were a magician or something. All the levitation and stuff—I don't know. I thought it was smoke and mirrors. But you knew about my family and Marcus so…I leapt."
"Some leap of faith, kid. I'll give you half credit with your guess." Confetti showered over Esther, but she didn't even flinch. "Dream demon, but close enough, I suppose."
Dream demon. Whatever it meant, it made sense.
"Hate to prove wrong and run but I got a couple things to deal with in the dreamscape. Well, you do don't you?" He winked. Esther's stomach churned. "My every happiness to you both! I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other again!"
There were two brief flashes of light and a gloved finger lifted her chin.
"Very soon," Bill promised through his grin.
Bill Cipher disappeared with a pop. The falls crashed deep in the forest, drowning the moan of Esther's hopeless sobs to all but the cicadas buzzing in the trees.
[AN]: This is my very first Gravity Falls story so please review and tell me what you think!
I wanted practice writing villains, and Bill Cipher is such a wonderful character that I had to try him out. This story is a one-shot right now, but I have a feeling that I will continue with it so don't be afraid to follow if you enjoyed this prologue!
Thanks for reading!
~~Iridian~~
