This Chapter has been long and difficult in making for me, I had ideas for future chapters, but the beginning was, thin, small, few transitions or ideas appeared to what should happen, and that is why it has taken so long for me to release a second chapter.
Let's begin then.
The Song of Ghosts:
Grey white powder was dragged across the floor in a ring, chalk marks danced across the center of the circle, where the hooded figure placed the stone, a single piece of rock, pulling back their hood they breathed in, and the air around them spun, they started in a dark low chant, wind whispering across the ground, spinning around everything, the powder flew up into the air and the chalk turned from white to vibrant glowing green, the figures eyes burned the same green color. The stone in the center of it all changed, blue lightning crackled off the walls of the room, striking it numerous times, as energy rushed over everything.
I call upon Memories and Dream, Night and Bones, Blood and Dust. I call upon the Chaos of the ever-after and the Long-Before.
Dipper let out a gasping breath, his eyes wild, he grabbed Gideon's shoulder and started to cough. After a few slow intakes of breath he returned to normal. Gideon raised an eyebrow.
"Something's wrong." Gideon stated.
"Definitely. It was strange, it wasn't what I'm used to at least, it felt like Magic, but there was something else there as well. It was evil, I can tell you that."
"Sure. So I guess that means we've got to go and investigate that."
"Unfortunately so."
"Right then, what do we need to check out, and where is it?"
"I have an idea, follow me." Dipper said heading off into the forest.
Pacifica raised an eyebrow at Mabel who was wearing a sparkling pink piece of wool cloth over a bright-pink t-shirt, and a short skirt, the raised eyebrow was not at her fashion choices (for once), rather for Mabel's random leap into Gravity Falls lake, completely unprompted other than a brief comment about how fun swimming would be that day from Candy.
That however was not unusual for Mabel, Candy's sudden shudder was however unusual. Wendy was at that moment nervously holding the hilt to her axe, which was unusual, but not in the world they lived in, there was every chance the lake would suddenly erupt and a monster would come flying out from beneath the surface.
"What's the matter?" Pacifica asked an eyebrow raised.
"I. Well, it's nothing but, something felt wrong." Candy answered, the petite dark-haired girl clearly had no interest in describing whatever the problem was.
"As in?" Pacifica asked, trying to gain further information.
"The air just felt cold for a moment ok?" Candy stated, turning away.
"Is this a magicky thing?" Wendy said with a sigh.
"It could be, but I'm sure Gideon and Dipper have it handled." Candy replied.
"If Gideon is involved he's probably the one who did it." Mabel commented reappearing from her sudden leap into the lake.
"As far as I'm aware Gideon hasn't done anything even resembling evil since Weirdmaggedon and that was years ago." Pacifica commented on the matter.
"A cheetah doesn't change its spots." Mabel countered.
"Listen I get that Gideon was a creep when he was younger, but people change, look at Pacifica, she used to be a jerk." Wendy commented, "Sorry Pacifica."
"No, you're right I was a jerk." Pacifica said nodding in agreement.
"Listen Mabel, I've known Gideon for a while now and he's never used dark magic since we started really practicing magic, sure he and Dipper will sometimes be competitive about things and will have little magic duels but they're never serious. Anyway I'm not even sure it was really dark magic."
The figure came to a rest after a couple of minutes of chanting, he examined the figure in front of him, not quite a figure, a small floating speck of a ghost, glowing blue. The triangle with just one eye blinked looking at the young man standing in front of it. Rather the almost childlike figure standing in front of it.
"Ha hey kid what do you want?"
"I want many things from you I simply want pieces of guidance and Wisdom."
"Right Well you need to offer something in return, so what do you have?"
"Oh you misunderstand, I'm not here to make a deal, I brought you here because you work for me."
"Haha, funny kid, funny. Seriously you think you can make me do something for you?"
"I'm certain of it, because your dead. You're just in the Spirit Plane, neither alive nor dead, only users of magic can even see you."
"Don't be stupid kid, Demons can't be ghosts either we-"
"Yes yes I'm aware, you either fade into nothingness, or you make a deal with Axolotol, you did the latter, I can even show you where and when you were reborn, in what body, etc. You're not the real Bill Cipher is the thing, you're a couple of his memories bunched together into a vague idea of a soul."
"Fine what do you want me to do then?"
"Like I said all I want is your continuous advice, and I'm basically offering you your revenge on a silver platter."
"Revenge against who?"
"Dipper Pines."
The statue was centuries old, and yet brand new, sitting alone in the woods overgrown with moss and other lichen. Dipper examined it fearfully, he gave a sigh, "I was right, as usual."
"They took a part of the Cipher statue? Why?"
"I think they're trying to re-summon Cipher, or at least a part of him, they're trying to get his knowledge at least, and maybe even some of his power."
"Who would want that?"
"Someone who wants to know what they're going up against."
"Which is?"
"Probably us. All of us, Me, You, Mabel, Wendy, Pacifica, Robbie, et cetera."
"So the Cipher wheel symbols?"
"More importantly the ones who are still active, still young enough to cause a problem, Candy's probably going to be dragged into this as well, because well, if this person is coming after us, they want people who represent a threat to whatever dark magic they've got, and she's included."
"Then we better get moving."
The argument was still going when the humming started, the humming of a thousand bees, buzzing through the air, that's when they appeared, glowing violet creatures, that burnt the color of the darkest night sky, they seemed to cut through the air, and it didn't take long for the group to figure out they were hostile, and more importantly trying to kill them.
Mabel pulled a shortsword from her bag, it was made of bronze in a leaf-sword style similar to that of the ancient greeks. As expected it was a gift from Dipper, a boy who somehow managed to make everything foolishly protective, like many of the Bracelets and gifts Pacifica had received all of which had some form of magic. The difference was that Mabel was the sort of person who got a sword and decided she had found true love.
"You brought the sword with you? I thought we weren't monster fighting!" Pacifica yelled across the field as she dodged a spire of the dark creatures.
"This is Gravity Falls what were the actual chances that we weren't going to fight monsters?" Mabel replied as she swung the sword at a column of the creatures that had shot right past her.
Candy had pulled out a few runestones and charms, that she always kept around and Wendy had the sharpest axe in the world, in almost literal sense. Dipper had given Wendy a blade sharpener designed to make the blade infinitely sharp with one scrape of it against the blade.
Once more Dipper had a thing for practical and mystical presents.
There was a brief moment at which Pacifica thought she was going to die as a group of the strange buzzing creatures slammed into her, only to find them fading away into golden dust as almost every rune on every piece of jewelry she was wearing glowed. Dipper was a little overprotective some of the time. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, caution could be wise, especially when you were bound to constantly run into armies of evil monsters and people that would try and kill you.
"We're not alone Kid." Bill said with some certainty
"Indeed your not." The dark-haired woman said stepping out of the shadows, she too was pale and ghostlike, however her ghost was a vibrant green, surrounded by purple, darkness shimmered around her as she moved.
"Bill Cipher allow me to introduce you to Morgan Le Fey. The most Powerful Sorceress of all time, at least, this is a part of her, a memory of her darker half, I retrieved it from some old tomb in Wales." The young Sorcerer said with a smile, "Now you wanted to see what your reincarnation was like correct. I've studied up a bit already, and I can tell you they lived a tormented life, they also hurt a large number of people, so I'm sure you'll like him."
The sorcerer waved a hand across a bowl of dark water, which shimmered into life, showing a small child being born, then raised up. Old Latin words danced through the air over the bubbling cry of the child.
"I don't speak Latin Kid." Cipher said with a sound of disappointment.
"Well you did, actually as a demon you understood most languages, as a memory however that ability is gone with most others, it is of no matter, his name was or will be, or is, depending on how you look at things, Nero. He had vague memories of his life as you, and it destroyed him, he set a city on fire."
"I was going to burn an entire world to dust, and I have done it before, what's a city to me?"
"Very little I suspect."
"Now how do I destroy Dipper Pines and his allies?"
"Pinetree and his friends are pathetic, they care too much about each other." Bill answered, leaning back and floating across the room.
"So I should destroy the weakest link?" The sorcerer asked.
"Exactly kid. That or exploit them, that girl, Shooting Star, is easy to trick, and control, she's selfish, and childish. Promise her something and she'll take it." Cipher answered.
"Because that went so well for you." Morgana commented.
"Oh shut it, Open-Eye." Bill replied.
"Silence you two, I need to think." The sorcerer said, with a sigh.
"Whatever you say Thorn-Staff." Cipher replied.
"What now then?" Gideon asked looking across the clearing.
"Now? Well we need to follow this guy whoeve-" Dipper stopped mid-sentence, "Pacifica is being attacked."
"You're sure?" Gideon asked, nervously.
"Certain, a bunch of her runes just went off, which means someone is attacking her. We can deal with this tomorrow."
"Ok then, I really thought this was more important." Gideon said with a pause.
"All I know is that Pacifica is under attack, and whatever it did it set off a bunch of her defense runes which means that most likely she's defenseless, and I also know that she's with my Sister, and Candy who if I need to remind you only has a couple rune stones. Along with Wendy, so I think I'm right to worry." Dipper replied.
"Maybe, but they're not incompetent, they can handle whatever this is, we can still-"
"No, we go after this thing tomorrow, I'm saving my friends today."
Pacifica watched as Dipper and Gideon burst through a small portal, staffs at the ready, blocking the shadowy-wasp like monsters attacking the girls, with small shields of light that forced the creatures to dissipate. Mabel let out a cry of success, slashing through the oncoming hordes of the creatures once more.
"Good job Bro-bro. I was sure you hadn't given up on us."
"Right right, we were investigating something else." Dipper said, looking around and sending a small blast of light into the Shadow-Bugs a blast which exploded, burning through them in bright blue light. Gideon was putting up quite a good offensive as well, sending slashing beams of light cutting through the shadow-bug swarms, and sending them flying away from the girls. After a minute or two the creatures were completely dealt with, disappearing from sight. All except one which sped by Pacifica's shoulder leaving a slight burn, it was enough to anger Dipper, barely enough, but enough.
"Those weren't just normal monsters they were-" Dipper started
"Sent by someone, I know." Candy finished.
"What do you mean sent by someone, sent by who?" Pacifica asked, clasping her shoulder.
"Let me look at that." Dipper said walking over, and pulling a runestone, which filled the area with a light blue light, the pain eased, and the burn lessened, "It should heal normally."
"Ok, but you didn't answer my question, sent by who?" Pacifica repeated.
"Just some dark magician or something." Dipper answered, brushing it off.
Gideon raised an eyebrow and Dipper glared at him.
"Right, if that's all we should talk with Candy." Dipper said.
"Why?" Candy asked, looking at the other two magicians.
"We're supposed to stop Dark Magicians and stuff right?" Gideon said.
"Exactly, which is why we need to talk in private." Dipper said.
"That's not suspicious at all." Pacifica said with a snort.
After Gideon, Candy, and Dipper had left, Wendy spoke looking around at the other two girl, "Dipper's keeping something hidden."
"Right well that was obvious to everyone." Pacifica said.
"Yeah, yeah, the weird part is that Gideon didn't want to keep it hidden." Wendy said.
"What do you mean?" Mabel asked blinking.
"The glare, Dipper glared at Gideon after he said it was just some Dark Magician. Gideon raised an eyebrow as well, this is way bigger than Dipper is telling us." Wendy stated.
"Dipper doesn't keep secrets, not really, not unless he's scared." Pacifica said.
"And what would scare Dipper?" Wendy asked.
"Everything, it's not like my brother is some badass or anything, he's literally frightened of everything." Mabel said with a shrug.
"No, he's not Mabel, sure when he was a twelve year old kid he was, but he's not anymore, he's grown up a lot since then, and he's seriously not scared of that much." Wendy said.
"Wendy's right, Dipper can get nervous and be awkward, but to actually scare him, it's got to be big, I mean he faced a Demon when he was twelve, there's not a lot that can scare you after that. I would know." Pacifica said.
"Right, right. But maybe it just wasn't as big a deal as we think it was, maybe he just thinks he, Candy, and Gideon can handle it." Mabel said waving it away.
"Maybe." Wendy said, but it was clear she didn't believe that at all.
That would be the end of this chapter. I apologize for the bad Names for the Characters, meaning the Names that Bill hands out, it's honestly because I hadn't thought about it at all.
Open-Eye was because she could use magic and was aware of a lot of the world.
Thorn-Staff because Thorns are generally seen as a corruption of nature, so the use of a Thorn Staff, or the imagery of it is a mix of a corrupt piece of Nature with Magic, trying to create the image of Dark Magic.
Anyway please review, and I hope you enjoyed the second Chapter of this story.
