Tick tock tick tock
1923 - Gienah
William Alex Civer was dragged into a circle that had been marked at the center of a clearing shortly into the woods of Gravity Falls. He was bound and gagged as his older sister (by two hours) screamed and kicked from where she was being held at the edge of the clearing. The hooded men that had brought the twins into the forest lined up outside the design on the ground, which consisted of a circle with a triangle inside and a circle made of runes inside of the triangle and William inside of the circle of runes. The men began to chant in a language neither of the twins understood as Ariel continued to struggle against her captor and William pulled against his bindings. His thrashing caused the collar of his shirt to lower, revealing the birthmark on the back of his neck that was in the shape of the constellation Corvus.
The runes on the ground began to glow, first light blue then different colors of the rainbow, and William arched his back and screamed into the cloth that gagged him. As the light grew brighter, the runes almost seemed to move on the ground, going faster and faster until they were nothing more than a circle of rainbow light. The ground shook and leaves, sticks, and rocks floated into the air.
William screamed one last time before collapsing on the ground.
"William!" his sister screamed as she stared at his face. Blood was trailing down his face from his eyes and nose. "Please stop! He's - My lord, he's not breathing! Please, you need to stop!"
The men ignored her.
Something was going wrong though. The ground was shaking harder and more objects were floating into the air. One of the men collapsed. Some of the others looked towards their fallen comrade, but the chanting continued. At least for a few moments.
When the second man collapsed, a few of the men stopped chanting and stepped back.
Everything went to hell.
The light from the runes became brighter than ever and pulled into the center of the circle, blocking William from view. Some of the men quickly backed away while a few even tried to run. The man holding Ariel released her to bring his arms up to block his face. Before the girl could take more than a few steps towards her brother, the light shot outwards, overtaking the entire clearing.
When the light cleared, the men, the design, and William had disappeared. All that was left was an unconscious Ariel Civer. Her face was scrunched up and she twitched and turned in an uneasy sleep. However, a flicker of blue flames passed over her body seconds later, replacing her troubled movements with a peaceful expression.
The clearing was left undisturbed for hours until a search party found the young girl and took her away.
When she would awaken later at the hospital, she would have no memories of the cult or their ritual.
Tick tock tick tock
1953 - Alphecca
Stanley William Pines rolled his eyes at his twin brother. The older-by-seconds boy was marching through woods with a stick like an adventurer slicing through the jungle using a machete.
"Come on, Stanford, let's head back to the hotel," Stanley said. Their parents had brought them to Gravity Falls for the weekend to visit with some friends of their mother's. Bored of the hotel, Stanford had decided to go exploring in the forest, dragging Stanley along with him.
"Relax, poindexter, we aren't even that far in," Stanford said, swiping at a bush with his stick and moving on.
"Mom said we weren't supposed to go near the forest, let alone in it."
Stanford just ignored his brother and kept walking.
Stanley sighed and moved to follow before catching sight of a deer walking through the forest.
"Stanford, come look at this," he whispered, kneeling down and pulling his little notebook and pencil out of his back pocket. As he started sketching the deer, he said, "Isn't this neat?"
After a few moments of silence, Stanley turned away from the deer. "Stanford?"
The twelve year old's heart skipped a beat as he realized he was alone.
"Stanford!" he shouted, jumping to his feet. He heard the deer run away, but paid it no mind as he stuffed the notebook back into his pocket and took off in the direction his twin had been heading.
"Stanford! Stanford!"
Stanley tripped over a root and slid down a small hill, thankfully coming out with only a few scratches. He quickly shook it off before continuing to run.
He ran until his legs and lungs hurt. "Stanford!" he called one last time as he shot into a clearing before he dropped to the ground, breathing heavily.
Darn it, Stanford! Where did you go? he thought, laying down and draping an arm over his eyes. "We are going to be in so much trouble. Not only did we go into the forest, but we got separated and lost. Mom's going to kill us! That is, if we make it home."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about your brother. He's near the edge of the forest. You're the one that's lost."
Stanley shot up into a sitting position. The first thing he noticed was that the color seemed to have been drained away from his surroundings. The second was the triangle floating near the center of the clearing. It was yellow with a brick pattern on the bottom half and a single eye at the top. A top hat floated above its "head" and a bow tie rested beneath its eye.
"Hi there, kiddo," it seemed to say, but considering it didn't have a mouth it was more of an educated guess. It - or he? That was definitely a man's voice - did hold out one of the dark limbs that stuck out of his body to offer Stanley his hand, which only supported the theory that the triangle had been the one to talk.
Stanley sprung to his feet, backing away instead of taking the hand. "Wha- Who are you?"
"The name's Bill, nice to meet you. And you are?"
"I - uh - am Stanley. Stanley Pines," he said, rubbing his arm. The action drew attention to not only the mutation that left him with six fingers on one hand, but also to the birthmark on his upper arm that was usually covered by his shirt sleeve. It resembled the constellation Corona Borealis.
"Hm, Pines huh. You wouldn't happen to be related to a woman named Ariel, would you? Brown hair, blue eyes, left Gravity Falls when she was about your age."
"Uh, yeah, that's my mom. Ariel Pines. She brought us here to visit with some old friends of hers. How did you know that?"
"I know lots of things, Glasses. Lots of things." The triangle blinked. "You can't tell, but I'm winking. One eye, you know."
"Well, would you happen to know how to get out of the forest?"
"Would I! I used to travel all over these woods. I know them like the back of my hand."
"Then you can show me the way!"
"Woah there, Glasses, I didn't say that. But you know what, I like you kid, so I'm going to share a secret with you. Tell me, does this clearing feel weird to you?"
Stanley opened his mouth to point out that the entire place was black and white, but figured that probably wasn't what Bill had been talking about. He looked around to see if he could figure out what it was he was supposed to know. That was when he felt it. It was like when he had too much sweets combined with the tingly-ness of a static shock. But it was like the feeling was coming from the outside.
Bill started nodding. "That's right."
The boy blinked before his eyes widened. "Did you read my mind?"
"Yes," Bill responded simply. "Back to the matter at hand, that charge you feel is all the magical energy that's trapped in this clearing.
"See, some years ago this cult performed a ritual in this clearing. Safe to say, they messed it up. Now, not only is all the magic they released trapped here, but they accidentally trapped me here as well. Which means I can't show you the way out of the forest."
Stanley's face fell.
"However," Bill continued, "if I had help, I might be able to stretch the limits to the edges of the forest."
"Then you could show me the way out?" Stanley asked.
"Exactly."
"What would you need?"
"Just a bit of energy on your part."
"That's it?"
"Don't sell yourself short, Glasses. This wouldn't work with anyone else."
"Why?"
"Because you're special!"
"Why?"
Bill just blinked and Stanley figured he was "winking" again. The triangle held his hand out for Stanley and the boy stared down at his own.
"So I give you a bit of energy and you show me the way home? That's it?"
"That's it."
"Alright, it's a deal," the boy said, taking Bill's hand.
Blue flames sprung up around the conjoined hands and Stanley suddenly felt light headed. Bill grabbed his arm before he could topple. The boy squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to not fall over, so he missed it when the flames dropped to the ground. They formed a circle inside of a triangle inside of a circle before shooting outwards towards the rest of the forest.
"Alright Glasses, let's get you out of here."
Stanley opened his eyes just in time to see Bill snap his fingers. Suddenly they weren't in a clearing and all the trees around them were different, though everything was still black and white.
Bill helped the boy sit down against a tree as a renewed sense of vertigo overtook him.
"Stanley!"
The twelve year old turned his head and smiled at the sound of his brother's voice calling for him. "He actually sounds concerned. Maybe this will teach him to stop dragging me along on his dumb plans."
"Doubtful," Bill said with a knowing gleam in his eye.
"Stanley! Stanley!"
"Thanks Bill, I probably would never have found my way out of it wasn't for you."
"Stanley! There you are!"
"No Glasses, thank you," Bill said, and Stanley got the feeling Bill would be smirking if he had a mouth.
Stanley felt hands grab his shoulders and give him a shake.
"Stanley!"
The boy blinked and when he opened his eyes the world was filled with color and Bill was gone. Instead, his brother sat next to him.
"Gosh, poindexter, just scare the life out of me, why don't you? What were you thinking, taking off without me and falling asleep in the forest?"
Stanley yawned. Asleep? Had it all just been a dream? "You're the one that took off without me. I tried catching up to you, but I guess - I guess I must have tired myself out."
Stanford pulled back, looking guilty. "Sorry. Should have made sure you were keeping up. Come on, let's head back to the hotel. There's nothing to see in this forest anyways."
"Yeah, nothing to see," Stanley agreed as his brother helped him to his feet.
As the two headed towards the edge of the forest that could be seen just through the trees, Stanley felt something watching him. He glanced over his shoulder, but he couldn't see anyone or anything. He knew something was there though. He knew it hadn't just been a dream.
Tick tock tick tock
1983 - Algol
Ariel Jennifer Pines. That's what her name would have been. She would have been thirteen in two months, just like her brother. She would have been a pretty thing. If she was lucky, she'd look just like her mother or grandmother, or maybe the best of both. He would have had to work hard to keep the boys away from her.
He could still remember seeing her tiny body on the table as the doctors tried everything they could to save her. There was nothing they could do though. Maybe if they had been able to get her out first, they would have had time, but by the time they had gotten her brother out and then started on her, she was already halfway gone.
He remembered that at one point during the doctor's work, her leg had gotten clean enough for him to see the birthmark on her leg. Later, while working with some star maps, he had cried and laughed as he realized the birthmark had been in the shape of the constellation Perseus. Of course she would somehow inherit an oddity like that from him.
"Stanley?"
Drawn out of his memories by the voice, Stanley turned to his brother.
"Right," he said, mind catching up with the present. "As one."
Stanley took two of the keys in hand as Stanford grabbed the third. Together, they inserted the keys into the manual override device and turned them. With a buzz, the shutdown switch activated.
"Stanford," Stanley said. When his brother turned to him, the man pulled a journal out of the pocket of his jacket and shoved it into the other man's hands. "I want you to hide this, keep it safe. We can't let anyone else create this device."
The older twin looked down at the journal. It was burgundy and had a golden, six-fingered hand on the cover that bore the number one. "Of course, Stanley, but what about numbers one and two?"
"I've already hidden three and I gave Fiddleford number two. I doubt he can even remember where he hid the thing, what with his incessant use of that stupid devic of his. It should be safe, hopefully. We have to keep them apart; that's the most important thing. Don't let anyone know where you've hidden it, not even me."
"Right," Stanford agreed, nodding as he tucked the journal into his jacket.
"Head upstairs band get ready for damage control. I'll be right behind you."
Stanford nodded before running into the control room and slipping into the elevator.
Stanley sighed as he walked up to the shutdown switch. There was ten minutes on the clock to his side. He looked up at the machine. Years of labor and research, wasted. Stanley raised his hand above the switch.
"Don't do it, Glasses."
Stanley growled and spun around. For the first time since he'd known the triangle - the demon - the world didn't turn black and white around Bill Cipher. That only served to anger Stanley more.
"I knew it! You've been playing me - tricking me - this whole time!"
"Come on, Glasses, let's talk about this."
"No, no more talking. I've learned my lesson.
"You told me this device would be the key to untold knowledge -"
"And it will be! It was the last time, after all."
"But that's not the whole truth! You've never given me the whole truth, have you?"
"Glasses -"
"No! I know what this device really does now. You think I haven't been paying attention to the magical boundaries? I have! They're not just covering the cabin and forest anymore. It's spread into Gravity Falls. But you know that, don't you? Because that means you've spread into Gravity Falls. You're trapped with the magic. You made that clear the first time we met when you tricked me into helping you expand your territory. All this time, ever since Stanford and I came to live in Gravity Falls, I thought you were helping me, but you were only helping yourself."
"You think you've figured everything out? There's still so much you don't know. I could show you. You just need to -"
"I said no! No more deals! No more half truths! This thing is tearing a hole in the fabric of time and space. It could destroy the world."
"Now you're just being over dramatic and paranoid."
"I'm putting a stop to this," Stanley stated and brought his hand down.
"NO!" Bill shouted, tackling the man.
He was half a second late. The device hummed as it shut down. Everything near the portal that wasn't nailed down was sucked in - a final breath as the light from the runes slowed and faded - including Stanley and Bill. The triangle tried to pull away, ready to snap his fingers and teleport elsewhere, but Stanley kept a hold of him.
Demon and author were drawn into the portal seconds before the device went black.
Tick tock tick tock
1983 - Alkaid
William "Dipper" Jason Pines shouted at his sister, begging her to shut down the device that had them floating in the air. His hair was floating up away from his head, exposing his birthmark that was in the shape of the asterism the Big Dipper.
Everything was (figuratively and literally) crumbling around him. Grunkle Stan, one of the few people Dipper trusted, had been lying to them about everything. In fact, he might not even be Dipper's Grunkle Stan! And the man had been constructing a doomsday device beneath the very place Dipper and Mabel had eaten and slept and lived all summer.
Dipper had tried - he had - to give Stan the benefit of the doubt, but between the device and the fact Stan had kept both of the other journals a secret only served to prove the author right.
TRUST NO ONE!
"Mabel, what if he's lying?" Dipper said, and he wasn't entirely sure he was only talking to her. He felt angry and confused and scared and the fear and confusion only made him angrier. "This thing could destroy the universe! Listen to your head!" That's what he did. That's who he was. He was the smart twin. The rational twin. He followed his head. The facts stated that Stan was not to be trusted and that was that.
So why was Dipper still so confused?
"Look into my eyes, Mabel! Do you really think I'm a bad guy?" Stan yelled down to Dipper's twin.
A fishing trip that actually turned out to be fun
Learning to play poker
Getting help when Robbie was hypnotizing Wendy with music
Watching the man fight off a pterodactyl to save a pig
"He's really coming along. When push comes to shove, I'm actually proud of him."
Sneaking into the movies
"Something stupid!"
Fighting zombies
Lighting Fireworks and throwing water balloons
The video of Stan with the toxic waste
The fake ID's and passports
"Stan Pines Dead"
"Unnamed Grifter at Large"
The secret lab
The doomsday device
Journals one and two
"Total global destruction!"
"Everything I've worked for - everything I care about - it's all for this family."
"He's lying?" He has to be... right? "Shut it down now!"
"Mabel please!"
10
9
"Grunkle Stan -"
6
5
"- I trust you."
She let go.
She trusts him.
Anger
Fear
Confusion
Anger
"Mabel, ARE YOU CRAZY?" How can she just trust him after everything she's seen? How can she have that much faith? "We're all gonna -"
1
Screaming fills the air along with a blast of light. A few seconds of half-conscious floating and then it's over. They all collapse to the floor, but Dipper's the first one up. He rubs his head as he takes in the destruction.
Anger
Confusion
Fear
Anger
The machine's mostly destroyed, but the portal is still active. Dipper's eyes widen as a figure appears from the portal.
They walk forward before leaning over to pick up one of the journals - journal one - off the ground.
"Wh-what? Who is that?" Dipper asks, confusion becoming most prominent, though anger and fear are still there.
Beside him Stan sits up. "The author of the journals," he says as the figure lowers their - his - hood, scarf, and goggles to reveal a face not so different from Stan's own. "My brother."
Floating somewhere high over Gravity Falls, a dream demon laughs as magic slowly flows out of the town like a lake overflowing.
Here's the continuation to my story The Twins.
Each of the names that come after the dats are the names of four of the stars whose symbols are on the device under the Mystery Shack. They are also a star from each of the four younger twins' constellation (or asterism in Dipper's case; I hadn't realized the Big Dipper wasn't an actual constellation until I was already done with all but Dipper's part). They are also matched according to some of the traits that I've found for each star. Gienah of Corvus (Bill) is craftiness, greed, and ingenuity. Alphecca of Corona Borealis (Stanley) is honor, brilliance, literacy, and scandals. Algol of Perseus (Dipper and Mabel's would-have-been aunt) is woes and death. Additionally, Alkaid of the Big Dipper (Dipper) is actually war and natural catastrophes. Irony, right? Though it's also death… Maybe we should be worried.