So this is something. Yup. So this story is all from the inner workings of my weird mind. First chapter is kinda short, mostly dialogue, but most of the story will probably be mostly dialogue. Prepare for weird, random, and... whatever else I put in here.
"Ugh! Grunkle Stannn," Mabel threw her arms out to the sides, almost hitting her brother sitting to her left. "When are you gonna get the AC fixed in this carrrr?"
"When it doesn't cost an arm and a leg!" the old man said in his husky voice. He was sitting in the front passenger seat while his brother drove. "Just roll the window down, you'll be fine."
Both kids groaned. "Don't worry children," Ford smirked as he turned down an old dirt road leading into the woods almost hidden by the regrowth of summer grass. "We're almost there."
"Remind me again why we aren't staying at the Mystery Shack this year?" Dipper tried to roll the window down to no avail.
"Well, after last year, the four of us staying with Soos and his grandmother isn't exactly… ideal." Ford replied.
"Five of us!" Mabel held up her pet pig.
Dipper shivered at the memory. "So where are we staying? It's not that creepy old motel with the creepy old man at the desk?"
"No, no," Ford chuckled. "I called up an old acquaintance and she agreed to have us over. Though, she did seem a bit hesitant. Then again, we haven't exactly been in touch since she was young."
"How old is she?" Dipper raised an eyebrow.
Ford thought for a moment. "Hm, I suppose she's about twenty-two?"
"Did you, like, know her parents or?"
"Her parents passed away when she was very young. I'm not sure who looked after her, but she lives alone in a big house. She did say that she had a guest staying over already, which may have been the reason she was hesitant to let us stay. Her name is Amaranth, but she prefers to go by Amy."
"Amaranth? Like the mythical undying flower?" Dipper tilted his head. "This is our third year coming to Gravity Falls, how come we've never met her, or even heard of her?"
"Amy isn't what you'd call a 'people person.' She's a bit shy with strangers and prefers the company of animals. She lives in an open but secluded part of the woods here. If you don't know exactly where you're going, it's likely you won't encounter it. Actually, I believe she just recently returned from a long trip to Africa as well." He slowed the car to a stop. "That's strange, I don't remember there being a fork in the road."
Sure enough, the overgrown dirt road split into two paths that looked almost exactly the same. The one on the right however gave off a strange, ominous feeling; it was faint, but the feeling was there, calling. Dipper was relieved when Ford took the left path and soon they passed a large red mailbox. A few seconds past the mailbox they pulled into a very large clearing. Towards the other end of the clearing was a large two-story farmhouse waiting silently for their arrival. To the right was an old brown barn, its two doors fully open and the inside empty. Further to the right was a newer looking barn painted red and white with a large fenced area where numerous sheep were grazing. To the left of the house was a chicken coop and several chickens wandering around it.
"Look Waddles," Mabel said excitedly. "It's perfect!"
Ford stopped the car near a pond where an old willow tree loomed over the water. They all stretched upon exiting the vehicle. "Dog!" Mabel shouted next to Dipper causing him to cringe. He followed her pointing finger to the porch where an old bloodhound was sleeping. It lifted its head as they approached and Ford patted the dog's head. A golden tag hanging from his leather collar revealed his name to be Bud.
"I wonder who that other guest is…" Dipper mumbled as Ford knocked on the door.
It only took seconds before the door flew open and a man who looked to be in his twenties peered down at them with a single eye, the right was covered by an eyepatch and long blonde bangs. He was wearing a white long sleeve shirt, black pants, and a loose yellow tailcoat, as well as a black bowtie and a long thin top hat. He grinned wickedly. "'Yellow!"
They were all stunned. "You!" Ford took a step back, "but how?"
"Wait, wait, wait, wait," Dipper shook his head. "You! We! Erased!" He panicked.
"Yeah, yeah, surprised?" Bill bent down to pat the dog sniffing at his leg. "If you really wanted to erase me, you should've destroyed my petrified statue."
"Statue? What statue?" Dipper's voice was cracking.
Without further explanation Bill turned around and reentered the house. "I'd kill you now, but since you're Amy's guests I guess that'll have to wait." Bud followed him inside and climbed onto the living room couch.
Ford rushed inside. "What have you done with Amy?" He asked angrily.
"Whoa, calm down," Bill laughed. "I didn't do anything. Amy! Your pests, I mean, guests are here!"
A door just at the beginning of the hall flew open and a young woman slammed it shut. She was pushing against the door to keep it closed as something on the other side thrashed against it, roaring. "Bill!" she shouted.
He casually walked over and slammed the door hard causing the creature on the other side to whimper and stop thrashing. He looked down at her and smirked.
"Gee, thanks for warning me about the tentacled beast in my storage closet!" She said sarcastically. She suddenly noticed the people standing in her living room and staring wide-eyed. She stood up straight and dusted her jeans off. Her outfit was casual, jeans and a red shirt; she had long auburn hair that was slightly wavy at the ends.
"Pretty," Mabel smiled with stars in her eyes. "You're gorgeous."
She flinched slightly. "Um, thanks? Hello."
"Amy!" Ford grabbed her shoulders and looked her over. "Are you okay? What did he do?"
"Excuse me?" she stepped back. "I'm fine, why?"
"Amy, do you have any idea who he is!?" Ford pointed at Bill who was now laying on the couch with his feet propped up on the dog's back. Bud paid no mind and continued to sleep.
"Yes," she nodded. "He told me. He also told me about what happened three years ago. Well, after."
"After? After what? Did you make a deal with him?"
"Eh…sort of?" she shrugged slowly.
"I don't understand," Dipper was walking in a small circle. "I thought we erased him from existence. What's going on?"
"Hurray, story time!" Mabel cheered earning a sideways glance from her brother. "Heheh, I mean, oh no! Bill's back!"
Amy walked through the woods with her dog following at her side. It was routine for her to take the old bloodhound out for walks at least three times a week. Even in old age, the dog was constantly sniffing everything and he often wandered when he caught the scent of nearby animals. Suddenly, he lifted his head and tilted it, staring into the woods.
"What is it, Bud?" she asked. The old dog let out a deep bark and headed off deeper into the forest. "Hey, wait for me!" she chased after him. For an old dog he was quick when he smelled something interesting. Before long Bud had led her to a strange stone figure covered by moss. He barked, causing the birds resting on it to take off then whimpered as he sniffed the statue.
"I come back from Australia to pick you up and now you lead me to whatever this is?" She knew her statement made no sense, especially to the dog. "Looks like it's been here for ages, but we've never seen it before, have we?" She exchanged looks with her confused dog. The figure was triangular with a single eye and what appeared to be a top hat. One of its arms was outstretched and she reached out to touch it. It felt like electricity surged through her and with a flash of white she was suddenly somewhere else. She was in a forest brushed lightly with snow and Bud was nowhere in sight. "Where? Bud? Here boy!"
"Well isn't this interesting?" a pleased voice laughed.
Amy looked around but saw no one, and despite the snow she wasn't cold. "Hello?"
"Howdy!"
She turned around to see the figure of the statue floating just behind her. Not expecting it, she gasped and jumped back. "Who are you?"
"Name's Bill Cipher, and you're Amaranth, right?" He circled around her. "Not bad." He looked around at the snowy forest. "Interesting."
She followed his gaze. "Where are we, and where's my dog?"
Bill laughed. "Not even gonna ask how I know you're name, huh?"
She shrugged. "I've gotten used to strange creatures I've never met already knowing my name. Where's my dog?"
"Relax," he folded his arms. "Your dog is back in reality. We're in your mind." Amy started walking around and examining things as he continued. "Here I thought I'd be stuck in nothingness for the rest of eternity, but lucky for me someone like you showed up."
"Someone like me?" She carefully examined a thick tree. "I have a feeling I know what you're talking about."
"Then let's get to it," he suddenly appeared in front of her causing her to step back. "I've lost a lot of power and I can't regenerate it here. I need someone like you to hang around so I can sap some of that powerful magic you've got and restore myself."
"So?" she brushed past him and continued examining the tree trunk until she found a small latch. Pulling it she opened a doorway in the tree, its wavering interior resembled the forest she knew. She was about to step through when he blocked her again.
"Look, I can't leave without making a deal with someone like you. Let me into the physical world with you and I'll do whatever you want. I mean, I can't do much with magic for now… I'll even tell you the story of how I got in this predicament. I can tell you pretty much whatever you wanna know. You can have power, riches, fame, whatever you want. And hey, you can call off the deal anytime if you want."
"Doesn't really appeal to me," she shrugged.
"What? Aren't you tired of being all alone? With no one who understands you, the real you. Human, not human? You don't belong in that world. You don't even like humans."
She stood there thinking, Bud's bark sounding through the doorway attracted her attention back.
"So you made a deal with him, and even after learning about everything that happened you still didn't call off the deal?" Ford rubbed his eyes.
She sighed. "I have things to do, Ford. You can stay or leave, but all of you are to leave each other alone," she tilted her head towards Bill. "He'll do whatever I say, so he won't bother you if you don't bother him."
Bud lifted his head and growled lowly at Ford, sensing Amy's frustration. She was never one to explain why she did what she did. Ford sighed but didn't say anything else. He decided it'd be best to stay and keep an eye on things up close.
"So why do you look like a person?" Mabel asked Bill as she touched Bud's nose.
"I've run out of most of my power," he glared at her. "So I'm forced to take a much simpler, weaker form in this world. It was either this or a rabbit."
Mabel gasped excitedly. "You should have been a bunny!"
"Get away from me."
Amy watched as Waddles greeted her dog. "Uh, Mabel," Dipper pointed to her pig.
Mabel scooped up the pig and held him up for Amy to see. "This is Waddles! He's my pet pig! Don't worry, he's totally housetrained. And I'm Mabel! That's my brother Dipper, Grunkle Stan, and you know great uncle Ford." She seemed cheery considering the circumstances.
Amy wasn't used to having people around, and she especially wasn't used to someone so excited. She couldn't help but smile. "Just call me Amy. That's Bud," she pointed to the dog.
"Okay," Dipper exhaled. "While I wrap my head around this, are there any rules we should be aware of?"
She thought for a moment. "The only things I really must insist on are: don't touch my sheep, be nice to the animals, don't open that door," she pointed to the storage closet she had come from. "Oh, and at the end of this hall is a door that leads to the basement. Don't go into the basement."
"Dare I ask, why?" Dipper raised an eyebrow.
"There's some kind of bear-sized badger demon down there. I call her Flower, but she's really mean so don't go down those stairs! And don't touch my sheep."
"You already said that."
She shrugged. "There are four bedrooms in the house. There were three but the attic was turned into the master bedroom a long time ago. There's a room down this hall on the left and two more upstairs. There's a bathroom on the right and one upstairs as well." She looked to the left and pointed. "Kitchen," then to the right, "Living room. You guys can use the couch and the recliner next it, but the recliner right here is all mine." The couch was against the wall with a recliner adjacent to it and Amy's recliner a few feet away from that one. A small table with a lamp separated the two. A large flat screen TV was sitting on a stand against the wall near the hallway and several video game consoles were placed neatly around it. "That sounds like a lot, but other than those few things, I don't really have rules." Amy shrugged. "You can figure out what rooms you all want. Obviously, the attic is my room."
"What about Bill?" Dipper narrowed his eyes at him.
Amy shrugged. "He rarely sleeps, if ever. He's always wherever I am anyway, so don't worry about it. The only place I can go alone is the bathroom." She began to walk towards the door. Both Bud and Bill got up and followed after her. Bill shot them a grin. "I'm going herd up the sheep early today," Amy stated as she stepped outside.
"This is gonna be bad," Dipper said as Mabel ran down the hall. "Dibs on this room!" she yelled.
To be continued…
So that's how it starts. Just who or what exactly is Amy? What's this power she has? Will she ever properly explain anything? You'll see. Eventually. It's weird for me to write any kind of fanfiction so sharing the inner workings of my mind is difficult for me to do confidently. Nonetheless, constructive feedback is appreciated.