So, this is my first Gravity Falls Fanfiction. I wanted to wait until I finished to post the chapters, but I became impatient, so here is chapter one. PLease let me know how I did my reviewing, or maybe adding some constructive criticism. Thank you for reading =3
I do not own Gravity Falls or any of it's AU's
The rickety bus pulled up to the old tourist attraction. A young girl stepped off and looked up at the broken sign,
"Mystery Hack." She said aloud, then she noticed the letter 'S' that had fallen off, embedded in the ground near the front door. "Well, this has to be the place." She said, then she took a deep breath and walked up to the door. She knocked twice before it was opened by a rather large and friendly man.
"Hello Mr. Gleeful." She had only met the man once, when he picked his son (her only friend) up from summer camp last year. Although the encounter was brief, he left a significant impression. "I'm Pacifica Northwest, your son's friend." The man chuckled.
"Well of course you are" he said as he shook her hand politely. "I remember you. Gideon won't shut up about you." He stepped aside so she could make her way into the shack.
"I wanted to thank you again for allowing me to stay with you guys for the summer." The young girl noticed a mirror by the door. She quickly tied her platinum blonde hair in a high ponytail and straightened out her sweater as Bud Gleeful replied,
"It's no problem, we love having guests. As long as you're willing to help out around the shack." He then turned toward the staircase and called up, "Hey Gideon! Your little friend from camp is here." There was a sudden crash and scuffle before Gideon stumbled down the stairs. When Pacifica first met Gideon he was short and stumpy, with disheveled white hair hidden under a cap. Aside from the hair, he had changed quite a bit in the year they had been apart.
"Hi Pacifica!" said Gideon, as they shared an awkward hug. It was awkward because of the extra foot he gained over her. His voice had gotten deeper but kept its adorable southern drawl. "I'm glad you decided to come, this summer would have been a bust without you." He shifted his eyes nervously toward his dad.
"Well, I guess I'll go back to keeping an eye on the shop." Said Bud Gleeful as he exited the room, "I'll give you guys a chance to catch up." Pacifica noticed the whole time, Gideon seemed to be barley holding it together. When his father was out of earshot she asked him
"Are you okay? You don't seem your normal cheery self." Pacifica placed a hand on his trembling shoulder. Gideon put his hand on his head as if willing a migraine to disappear.
"I found something" he whispered, "I can't talk about it down here, I'll show it to you upstairs." He grabbed one of Pacifica's bags and began walking upstairs. She followed him, counting each creak the floorboards made on their way up (16). Gideon stopped at a door and pulled a key out to open it. "Here's where you'll be staying." He opened the door to a dusty old room that hadn't seen daylight in who knows how long. Pacifica coughed as she peered inside, allowing her pupils to adjust. "Sorry, it's a little dusty. I'll clean it up." Pacifica smiled as Gideon covered a small blush.
"It's fine Gideon." She replied kindly. "It's got a," she paused for a moment, searching for the appropriate words, "Rustic charm." she finished. Pacifica turned on a lamp on an end table near the door so she could get a better look at the room. It was pretty big, there was a large yellow and blue carpet on the ground, and a tall mirror in a corner. Huge curtains draped over the dusty windows that loomed over a small futon. Pacifica turned back toward Gideon, "Now, what has you all frazzled?"
"Right! I nearly forgot. Come this way." He quickly retreated from the room, and Pacifica left her bags as she ran after him. There was another room down the hall, she assumed belonged to Gideon. She peered inside and saw Gideon pull something from under the pillow on his bed. He turned to her, "Come on, quickly. Close the door behind you." Pacifica did as instructed then sat down next to Gideon. In his hands was an old leather bound book. The cover adorned a golden, six fingered hand with the number "2" on it.
"What is that?" Pacifica asked, though she figured it was something incredibly boring given the condition the book was in. From her first impression of Gideon, she could tell he was super into mysterious histories and mythological stories. These types of books were not on Pacifica's top ten reading list. Gideon opened the old book and began to explain
"I found this in the forest a few days ago when my dad asked me to hang up some signs for the shack." A quick flip through the book produced images of goblins and weird creatures Pacifica had never heard of. She rested her chin in her hand as she listened. So it was just an old book with mythological junk in it.
"It's an interesting book Gideon. But I don't understand why you're so nervous about it." Pacifica told him. He looked up at her, there was deep concern/excitement in his eyes. "It's just an old book right?" Pacifica began to worry. Gideon flipped to a specific page and handed the book to Pacifica. He stepped away for a moment and came back with a Polaroid picture.
"That creature you see," Gideon handed her the picture, "chased me in the forest just yesterday." Gideon pushed his sleeves up to show her the cuts and scrapes. Pacifica didn't know what to say. She took a deep breath,
"Gideon, are trying to tell me that everything in this book is real?" She was very skeptical, but Gideon looked really freaked out and she wanted to help him. He was silent for a moment.
"I don't know." He finally said in a low voice. "So far, the only thing that I've come across was that monster, but if it was real, then there is a good possibility that everything else in that book is too."
"Gideon," Pacifica started to say, but they were suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door. Gideon quickly pulled the book from Pacifica's hands and hid it back under his pillow.
"Hey kids," Said Bud Gleeful as he walked through the door. "I'd rather you guys keep the doors open, I know you're good kids, but I'm kind of old fashioned." There was an awkward silence as the two teenagers stared at the middle aged man.
"Well, I should really finish giving Pacifica the tour, dad" Gideon said quickly as he began herding the two out of his room.
"Okay okay," replied Bud Gleeful. "When you're done come by the shop. I have some restocking for you two to do. Also, Pacifica" he said turning to her, "Make sure you let your parents know you made it here safely."
"Sure thing Mr. Gleeful." She replied. He smiled, then went back downstairs.
Gideon showed Pacifica the rest of the house, the bathroom, living room, kitchen, etc., until they made their way into the mystery shack gift shop.
"This place is incredible." Said Pacifica as she began picking through random gift shop curiosities. One was a bobble head of Mr. Gleeful; she couldn't imagine someone would actually buy something like this. "How long have you guys lived here?" Gideon shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know, for as long as I can remember." Said Gideon, he straightened out his hat and continued, "The Mystery Shack has only been here for about 10 years though."
"Hey kids, come over here. Give me a hand with these." Bud Gleeful pointed at a dozen full boxes with more bobble heads of himself.
Later that day, Pacifica and Gideon relaxed in the living room and watched some "quality" Gravity Falls T.V. It had been a full day of working at in the shack and cleaning up the room Pacifica would be staying in for the next few weeks. The show they were watching went to a commercial break
"Don't touch that remote! Tall tales from the Canadian Wilderness will be back in a flash!"
Pacifica put the T.V. on mute as the commercials flashed by. She was sitting on the floor in front of the T.V. while Gideon sat sideways on the recliner chair, reading the old book that freaked him out.
"Hey Gideon, why don't you put that book down for a moment and indulge in some mindless T.V. with me?" She asked him. He looked over at her, then back at the book. He then closed it and replied,
"Alright, but is there anything else on?" Pacifica handed him the remote as he began flipping through the soundless channels. Then the audio returned for a split second,
"Wait, go back to that." Said Pacifica quickly. They both stared intently at the screen as Gideon flipped back to the only channel with sound.
"-elcome to the Tent of Telepathy!" and old and gruff voiced man beckoned from the T.V. "Come one, Come all! Feast your eyes on the wonders of the Mystery Twins!" The old man vanished from the screen in a puff of smoke, and was replaced by two identical looking teenagers, a boy and a girl. They both had chestnut brown hair and bright green eyes. Their outfits seem to glow blue as they began performing magic on stage. A transition of white doves flew across the screen, leaving the words, "Tent of Telepathy" with an address and phone number. Smoke filled the screen and the old mans' voice could be heard again, "You can't visit Gravity Falls without stopping by, the twins will be expecting ya." Then the screen went black. The next commercial came on without any sound.
"Well that was weird." Said Pacifica. "Did you unmute the T.V.?" She turned to Gideon. He silently shook his head no. He turned the T.V. off and began flipping through his book again. Pacifica sighed. "So who are those people?" she asked him, trying to get his attention back.
"The Pines family." He said simply, "I don't know much about them, but my father told me that they're bad people." Pacifica thought about this for a bit. Then she got an idea.
"We should go see them!" she said excitedly. Gideon looked up from the book at this statement.
"Are you insane? My dad would kill me!" then he whispered, "They're like our number one competitor in this town." Pacifica rolled her eyes.
"Then wouldn't it make sense to go check them out? Come on," she cajoled, "We can even go under cover, it'll be fun." Gideon seemed uneasy about this, but he reluctantly agreed and Pacifica smiled wide.
When it was time for bed, Pacifica showered and walked back down the hallway to her room. Before closing the door, she noticed something etched in the wood. It was a triangle. She shrugged it off, closing the door and then flopping down on the newly cleaned futon, letting sleep wash over her.
Pacifica's dreams were almost always out of body experiences. Usually she would look down on herself, while she went on a date with the guy she would never have the guts to ask out in real life or she would dream that her parents paid more attention to her, or that she were capable of easily making new friends. This time was different though. As she looked down at her confused self she wondered where the color was. The Pacifica before her started walking and a few lifeless trees faded into existence. As she kept walking, it became darker, she followed herself until she could barely make out a dark outline, then nothing. What was going on? Suddenly, a bone chilling laugh echoed in the space around her.
"Hey Blondie! What's shakin'?" A dark shape emerged before her. It was a triangle. It opened its one eye and then turned a bright shade of yellow. It spoke again, "I didn't expect to see you here, or did I?' he laughed and pointed at his eye. "Get it? 'Eye'?" he laughed again and Pacifica tried to increase the distance between them. This had never happened to her before, she wasn't sure what to do so she asked,
"Who are you?" The triangle began to circle her like a bird of prey.
"The name's Cipher," His voice echoed, "Bill Cipher. And if I were you, I'd keep that little friend of yours away from that journal."
"Journal?" Pacifica questioned, "You mean that book with the weird and mythical stuff in it?"
"The very same," Bill snapped his fingers and the Journal appeared in blue flames. "Get the book away from Gideon before he loses his mind. Trust me kid, no one should mess with the secrets hidden inside." He handed her the book and as soon as she touched it, it burst into blue flames. She was surprised that her hands did not burn.
"Why should I trust you?" asked Pacifica cautiously. "I still don't really know who you are. What could possibly be so bad about that journal?" the triangle seemed to sigh.
"Look kid, I'm a friend." He said, his voice dripped with impatience, "Now get that book for me, and I promise nothing bad will happen to Gideon. Do we have a deal?" he stuck his hand out and that same blue flame encased it. Pacifica didn't move. Bill suddenly withdrew his hand, "You don't have to decide right away, but give me a call when you figure out I'm right." He said, then he began to fade.
"Wait!" Pacifica yelled, reaching for the triangle, "How can I call you?" she was still uncertain about this creature, but she was worried about Gideon. She already saw how consumed he was by the book.
"Don't you worry your pretty little head." He said, "Just call out my name. I'll be watching. I'm always watching." Then he faded from existence with a pop.
Pacifica woke with a start. She was sweating and her heart was racing. That was probably the weirdest dream she had ever had. She looked around the dark room, then she looked at the clock. 5:27 am. She didn't feel like going back to bed, so she decided to get ready for the day. It took her about 20 minutes to get ready and Pacifica felt restless, so she figured it would be a good idea to take a walk and clear her head.
Moments after she left the Mystery shack did she remember, she had only been in this town for 1 day, and had no idea where anything was. Pacifica began to feel nervous, she turned around to see if she could spot the shack down the dirt road she was on, but it was pointless. She didn't pay attention to which direction she had been going.
"Are you new in town?" Pacifica was startled by the voice. "Oh, didn't mean to frighten ya." Pacifica turned to see a kind looking older woman with one eye closed, sitting on a bus bench. The eye sent her mind back to Bill, and she quickly shook that thought out of her head.
"Yeah, I'm new here." Pacifica answered the woman's question. "I'm actually kind of lost." She said sheepishly. The woman smiled at her.
"Well that's alright, I know this town inside and out. Where are you headed?" said the Woman.
"The Mystery Shack." Replied Pacifica quickly. The woman looked up in thought.
"Now let's see here, was it north of …" She began mumbling to herself and Pacifica felt as though this was a lost cause. "You know, I'm not sure I remember how to get there from here." Pacifica's hope fell.
"Well thank you anyways," she said solemnly. "I'm sure I'll find my way back."
"Now hold on a second," Pacifica turned back towards the Woman. "I can't just let a young girl like you wonder all by yourself in an unfamiliar area. Why don't you come to my Diner and use the phone to call the Mystery Shack?" Pacifica smiled at the invitation and said,
"Thank you very much." And then her stomach growled loudly at the mention of the word "Diner". The woman laughed.
"I'll also let you pick something off the menu. On the house." Then she lifted her closed eyelid and pretended to wink.
"That's very kind of you." Said Pacifica. "I'm Pacifica by the way." She stuck out her hand to shake.
"Oh! You must be Gideon's little friend from camp!" exclaimed the woman. Just how many people did Gideon tell about her? "My name is Susan." She said, shaking her hand. The two talked kings and cabbages until the bus came, dragging them off to Susan's Diner. Pacifica enjoyed the company so much, she almost forgot about her dream. When Susan unlocked the Diner, she pointed at the phone in the back. Pacifica was about to dial when she realized, she didn't know the Mystery Shack's number. She face palmed and went back over to Susan. When hearing her predicament, Susan smiled and handed her a brochure. It was for the Mystery Shack, and when she flipped it over, the number was on the back. Pacifica quickly dialed and then waited. She began tapping her finger, when on the third ring someone picked up the phone.
"Welcome to the Mystery Shack, where you won't believe your eyes. How may I help you?" A tired sounding Mr. Gleeful had answered the phone.
"Hey Mr. Gleeful, its Pacifica." She started, "I'm-" She was cut off.
"Pacifica! Where are you calling from?" he asked urgently, then his voice grew softer as he pulled away from the phone to talk to Gideon, "Hey Gideon, its Pacifica!" There was a scramble, then Gideon's worried voice came through the phone.
"Pacifica? Where did you go? I was worried! You really shouldn't disappear like that, I thought…" he trailed off. Pacifica bit her lower lip, not realizing she had caused such a panic.
"I'm sorry, I needed some air, so I went for a walk and then I got lost. I'm at Susan's Diner right now, she was kind enough to let me use her phone."
"Lazy Susan? Alright, I'll be right there." The phone then cut out before Pacifica could respond. She hung up the phone and sighed. She didn't even think of how Gideon would react if she disappeared after her first day in Gravity falls. After all that monster stuff he told her, no wonder he was so worried. Pacifica sighed again as she sat down at a booth and waited. Moments later, Susan set a plate of Pancakes, eggs, and hash browns in front of her. It smelled amazing.
"Thank you so much for all of this Susan. Is there any way I can repay you." Pacifica said. Susan thought for a moment then laughed at her inner thoughts.
"Just keep being Gideon's friend. He's a good kid." Then she walked back into the kitchen. A few minutes later, some Gravity Falls regulars popped into the Diner and began chatting with Susan as she poured coffee, took orders, and shared jokes. Pacifica smiled at this. A small town sure does have its perks.
It wasn't long before Gideon walked through the door, bringing Pacifica out of her thoughts. She stood up as he swiftly walked over to her, and pulled her into a hug. She was surprised for a moment, and Gideon let go before she could hug him back. He waved to Susan and sat down across from Pacifica.
"So what happened?" He said, getting to the point. Pacifica shifted in her seat. She wasn't sure how to start.
"Well, I had a weird dream last night." She said quietly. Gideon's response was immediate. He pulled the journal from his vest and began flipping though it with lightning speed. He seemed to know exactly what he was looking for. Just how many times has he flipped through this thing? He stopped on the page he was looking for and turned the book so Pacifica could see.
"Was it him?" Gideon asked quietly. Pacifica gasped at the sight of the Triangle that haunted her dream last night. All over the page the scribbled words read, 'Do not trust!'
"How did you know?" she asked incredulously. Gideon shut the book and quickly hid it back in his vest.
"This guy has been hounding my dreams since I found the Journal. He wants it really badly, and I think he'll do anything to get it." Pacifica knew Gideon was right. Bill came to her dream to ask her to get the journal for him.
"What did he say to you?" Gideon asked, his eyes were pleading. Was this journal really messing with his mind?
"He wanted the journal." She said, then added, "But Gideon, I really think you should leave that thing alone for a while. You don't look well" Gideon looked down.
"I'm sorry Pacifica. I invited you to my home town so that we could hang out like last year, but I've been so obsessed with this book…" he sighed, "You probably think I'm nuts." Pacifica smiled at him and reached across the table to take his hand.
"No," She said reassuringly, then she shifted, "Well yes, but that's what I like about you." For the first time since she got there, she finally saw Gideon genuinely smile.
"So what should we do today?" Gideon asked as he flagged down Susan to order. Pacifica thought for a while.
"Hey Lazy Susan, can I get a coffee omelet please?" Gideon asked.
"Sure thing Hun. And don't call me that." She jokingly scolded him before walking off.
"Can you show me around the town?" Pacifica asked "I don't want to get lost again if I ever wander off."
"Sure." Gideon smiled and after they finished breakfast, they walked around the town. Gideon showed Pacifica some of the main markers she could use to get back to the shack, one including the Water tower with the large muffin spray painted on it.
When they finally got back to the shack, it was dark outside, and Bud Gleeful was waiting just inside the door, tapping his foot impatiently. Gideon and Pacifica's smiles dropped.
"Now where have you two been?" said Mr. Gleeful Impatiently. "Not one phone call after Gideon went off to find you, and then you don't get back til 9pm!?"
"Sorry dad," Gideon looked down, "I just showed Pacifica around town."
"Seriously, kids these days," Bud began rambling, "The next time you two leave the shack, at least tell me where you're going and when you'll be back."
"Yes! Absolutely!" replied Gideon, then he grabbed Pacifica's hand and dragged her up the stairs before his dad could complain any more. They went into Pacifica's room, and closed the door despite Bud's earlier "Open door" rule. Gideon and Pacifica just looked at each other silently, then they both burst out laughing.
"His face, was classic!" said Gideon between uncontrollable chuckles.
"Kids these days" Pacifica mimicked in a deep voice then toppled over in laughter. The two were distracted so they didn't notice the other figure in the room with them.
"Well you two look like you're having fun." Gideon and Pacifica both stopped short and turned to see a familiar shape. "Did you make up your mind about that there journal?" the dream demon asked.
"Bill." Gideon stepped in front of Pacifica to shield her. "Leave us alone!" he shouted. Bill just laughed as joyously as the teens were earlier.
"I see someone's grown a backbone." Said Bill, "Now why don't you just hand over the book before I do something unnecessary." He threatened.
"I'm not giving you this book. Go away!" Gideon replied. The demon put his hands up in defense.
"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn ya. You're going to slip up, and when you do, I'll be there." Bill voice faded as he disappeared.
"What is so special about that damn journal?" Said Pacifica angrily.
"I don't know," Gideon responded calmly, "But we have to protect it."
Thank you for reading the first chapter, I hope you like it so far
