It started with a shiver up the back of his spine, and then slowly it creeped up his neck. The air around him changed from the usual coolness of his world to the humidity and heat of an all too familiar little town in Oregon. Where the ringing in his ears had been the only thing he heard, suddenly he could hear people, animals, and the sounds of nature all around.

What an inconvenient day to be summoned. Really, didn't they know that he had a life of his own?

It was so quick he almost didn't realize it. They were celebrating Gideon's defeat, giving each other high fives, laughter escaping their lips, and enjoying the high of winning. It was a sensation that filled their lungs, blurred their vision, and brought a tingle down to their very toes. In that moment they had the world and no one could ever take it from them. It brought a skip to Dipper's step and a new view on the world. Never would he fail again. He used this newfound courage and confidence to excel in school, to outshine even the greatest of his peers. Mabel did the same, her artwork becoming known before she was even eighteen. If Gideon had meant to ruin Dipper's life then he had failed.

Really, when you faced off against a giant robot you didn't expect a car crash to kill you. That happened to other people, normal people who had never been to Gravity Falls. They would live forever or die trying to. Gnomes would get their revenge or a giant monster would attack. Car crashes were too normal.

But a drunk driver hit Mabel one night while she was driving home from her studio. Her eighteenth birthday was two days away. The crash killed both, but Mabel was the worst off. His mother had refused to let him see the body.

Suddenly, there were reporters breaking down their doors for questions. His friends and classmates asked him so many questions, some even he couldn't answer. His parents were crying.

And Dipper was numb. Why did his sister have to leave him? Didn't she know that he needed her here, not off in Sweater Town? She wasn't allowed to go there forever.

So, for her eighteenth birthday, he drove (very carefully because he could no longer trust cars) to see his great uncle who was just as much in shock as he was. Though they'd worked out their differences, it was obvious that Mabel was his favorite. When he had gone to sleep, he'd found his old journal, the one with the number three on it. He did not think when he did it. This was just something that he had to do.

For her eighteenth birthday, Mabel got another shot at life.

To humans, Bill Cipher looked like a triangle. He knew that well and used it to his advantage. However, just because he looked strange didn't mean that he was a toy to be used. What the human was asking for was incredibly serious, though something that Bill could do without thinking.

Still, he did not give things away for free.

The kid had changed. He was older now, his hair slightly longer and the cute look finally gone from him. There was a little bit of muscle on him but not much. His knees no longer shook and he had a grim expression on his face. Time had done Dipper Pines a lot of good.

"So you want your sister to live once more?" He flew up close to him and looked at him in both eyes.

"Yes." His voice had changed as well, lowering. However, there was no question that this was the Pine Tree.

"Would you be willing to trade your soul for it?" It was a stereotypical line, but a good one.

Dipper hesitated, and weakness flashed through his mind. There was the good old Pine Tree.

With a snap of his fingers, his black T-shirt and jeans vanished. He again wore his clothes from his younger days, though they were larger to fit his size. Yes, there was the boy he remembered, that little rat.

"What was that for?" He pulled the cap off of his head.

"Why didn't you answer my question? I want to know if this is worth your soul."

He sighed. "You can have it."

"Thank you, but I must decline your offer."

He was surprised to feel a firm grip surround him. Dipper held him close, ready to crush him with his fist at any moment. "Do you think this is some kind of joke? My sister is dead! I will give you my fucking soul if it means that you'll bring her to life again."

The demon thought for a moment. "Fine."

Dipper released him.

"I just don't want your soul."

Dipper tried to grab him again, but this time Bill was prepared. He flew above Dipper's head, high enough to where the boy couldn't reach him. The way he angrily jumped up, trying and failing to catch him, proved that the little twelve year old was still in there.

"If you want to come with me," Bill said, "then you must agree to my terms."

"Which are?"

'Simple," he said, "you must become a dream demon. I really don't think that I'm asking too much of you. I'll show you the works, your sister will be alive again, and everything will turn out just fine."

Dipper would later remark that everything happened too fast for him. It was so quick and sounded so easy that he immediately said yes, no questions asked. When the devil said to sign on the dotted line, he did not stop to read the fine print.