~TCCBJVLRGVRCQUVNQWTWRHWNNP~

Stan grumbled as he stared at the shack. Really? An implosion? Really? He suppose it could've been worse. The shack could've been a smoking crater instead.

He still wasn't happy, however. He had the money to fix it, luckily enough. But still, spending money was painful.

He let out a grunt of a sigh. First zombies, now demons. What was next?

Well, actually, it was better not dwell on the fact. He didn't want to think about next time.

He watched Mabel out of the corner of his eye. Said girl was running all over the construction site, holding Dipper's invisible hand, while talking a mile a minute.

Despite the disturbances, however, the workers continued, completely ignoring the girl.

It hadn't taken too long to get construction going again. While the rest of the world was in a tizzy over the supernatural, Gravity Falls continued it's normal routine, unbothered. People still went to work. Bars were still full of drunks. Children still played in the street. Construction for the shack is possible.

"Mabel, stop bothering the workers!" Stan yelled as said girl started hopping back and forth over some wooden planks.

She simply giggled loudly, joy evident on her face. A few seconds later, she was seemingly dragged away by an invisible force. He could hear her loud complaints even from where he was standing.

Stan watched with a single eye as Dipper dragged her away from the house to the tree line before disappearing into the forest.

Just inside the forest, Mabel continued to complain to her brother.

"Dipper! You're no fun!"

"They're trying to fix the shack, Mabel. Your getting in their way."

"So were you!"

"No I wasn't."

She scowled at him. She was still getting used to being the only one able to see Dipper and likewise, Dipper was still trying to get used to the fact that no one else could see or hear him. It was annoying, really. And a bit lonely as well. He missed being able to talk to the others without using Mabel as a median. Hopefully in time, it'll become normal.

"So what do you want to do?" Dipper finally asked.

Mabel collapsed onto the forest floor. "Ugh, I don't know. If I'd known hanging out here would be so boring, I wouldn't have come! Now we're stuck here!"

Dipper shrugged. "I warned you that it would be boring. And I doubt Grunkle Stan will drive us into town."

Mabel let out another loud groan. "He's been in such a bad mood lately."

Dipper gave a one-shouldered shrug. "What do you expect? Not only does he have to pay to get the shack fixed, but also for our motel room, food, and stuff."

Mabel scowled a bit. "Yeah, I know." She looked up at Dipper, who had a forlorn look in his golden eyes. "Hey, stop doing that!" She called out.

He blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Stop thinking. I know you still think this is your fault, but you need to stop with that. We can't change the past, so we might as well look to the future, right?"

Dipper sunk down, sitting next to his sister. He chuckled lightly. "Yeah, I know, I know."

She gave him a metal-filled toothy grin. "Sooo...since we can't go into town or hang around the shack, wanna go explore?"

Dipper frowned a bit. "I don't know...I mean if you get in trouble, I wouldn't be able to help you. Plus, we don't have the journal."

"Oh yeah. What happened to that thing anyways?"

"I have no clue. It's probably ashes." Sadness was etched into his features.

Mabel gave him a reassuring smile. "It'll be okay, Dipper. Now let's go!" And with that, she jumped up to her feet and ran deeper into the forest.

"Mabel! Wait up!" Dipper cried, following her into the woods.

"Mabel!" He yelled out.

She laughed. "Try and catch me, Dipping-sauce!" She cheered.

Letting out a groan, Dipper flew to her faster, gaining ground quickly. Stretching out his arms, he lightly grabbed her sweater.

The momentum caused them both to fall in a messy heap. Dipper couldn't help but laugh alongside his sister.

He was so busy laughing, he didn't notice Mabel cracking a wide mischievous grin before tackling and tickling him.

"Haha...Mabel s-stop it!" He gasped between chuckles.

Pretty soon, he started tickling her back, causing large guffaws to leave her lips. Both rolled around in the partially decaying leaves, Mabel getting grass-stains all over her clothes.

Finally, both of them pulled away from one another. In Mabel's case, letting out large pants between giggles.

Dipper simply chuckled. Though he had been tickled most harshly, he didn't feel any pain or pressure. A slight pang went through him when he realized he would never feel most sensations such as being out of breath again. However, seeing Mabel so light, carefree, and safe chased every bad thought away.

Mabel tended to have that effect.

She rolled up to her feet, skirt and bright pink sweater covered in pieces of vegetation and stains.

Dipper straightened up, lightly floating to his feet.

"So now what?" Dipper asked, pulling the collar of his shirt.

Mabel shrugged. "I don't know." Then, she proceeded to dust herself off to the best of her ability and continued on into the forest.

Dipper sighed and followed her, using his sense to keep a close watch. When Mabel got like this, there was nothing that could stop her.

The twins moved side-by-side, a comfortable silence lightly feathering around them. Mabel hummed while the natural sounds of the forest echoed around them. Light filtered through the trees, soft and delicate like stained glass windows. The crunch of grass and leaves was quiet underfoot and a predictable pattern that was easy to focus on.

Only when the sun started climbing down from it's climax midday did the twins decide to turn and return to the construction site.

They made their way back, slow and steady. Despite Dipper's earlier worries, nothing had appeared. Even small forest animals seemed to avoid him.

He was torn into two once again; hatred for what had happened and love of the fear.

These feelings happened quite often, more than he wanted to admit. He fought to not let his mind wander.

He was snapped back to reality when Mabel gripped his hand tighter, stopping suddenly while whispering "Dipper." Under her breath.

Dipper blinked as he looked at where Mabel was staring.

With the way Mabel acted and his own suspicion and paranoia, Dipper was expecting something along the lines of some sort of monster. A gremloblin, perhaps or another type of beast. In the brief time between Mabel's frenzied whisper and him looking where she stared, the thoughts of everything passed through his mind. Even gnomes and wolves, though they weren't that in that deep.

Instead, he saw a few floating lights hanging delicately in the air. Tinkling laughter not unlike a bell rung softly inside his ears, much too quiet for Mabel to hear.

"What are they?" Mabel whispers to him, holding perfectly still for once. A bright, excited light shined in her eyes.

"Faeries." Breathed Dipper, just as soft.

The two watched the fae in front of them, keeping as still and quiet as they could. They didn't seem to do much, observing them as they did. They simply floated in the air, light flickering around them like a halo.

Dipper focused on the creatures before him, amazement filling him. Despite his...situation, the supernatural still remained being his primary interest and love. Though he read about them in his journal, he'd never actually seen faeries before.

It reminded him that the supernatural didn't just contain beasts and monsters, but other delicate and beautiful creatures as well.

Dipper wasn't so sure how long they stood there, watching the fae. Dipper was sure the group was talking to one another, and could even hear clumps of random words within the ringing bells that was their laughter and speech.

It was peaceful, that is until Dipper ruined it.

Once again, he felt horrible and awkward in his clothing. He felt...under dressed. Gross. He lightly flicked the side of his shorts while pulling on the collar of his shirt once again, unable to stop a disgusted hiss escape from his mouth.

At once, the faeries finally seemed to realize that they were not alone. The lights blinked as they turned towards them. At first, everything was silent.

Then the screaming started.

The once peaceful and quiet faeries let out high pitched screams of terror as they fled, their colorful lights blinking out of existence.

A beat of silence, then...

"What was that about?!" Mabel asked, eyes wide with confusion.

Dipper frowned. "I'm not so sure..." He replied, his voice trailing off as he fell back into his thoughts. This was the second time it happened. First the gnomes in the neighborhood and now the faeries. Dipper wasn't so sure if they'd seen or if they'd sensed him. He wasn't so sure now. They hadn't ran off (flown off?) when they had found them, which means they didn't sense him.

They saw him.

Dipper supposed it made sense. He was supernatural now, (he wouldn't say or think what he actually was.) they were supernatural. It only made sense they could see him too.

The screaming however was annoying.

"Dipper?"

Dipper looked at his twin, blinking slowly. Her eyes had a slight worry to them.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

Dipper gave her a small smile. "Yeah. I'm- I'm fine. Just a bit surprised is all."

Mabel looked like she didn't quite believe him. "Well, now we know why we didn't run into any trouble! Looks like we don't have to worry about getting attacked." She said brightly, trying to lighten the mood.

Dipper let his smile stretch a bit. "I'm fine, Mabel. Really. Let's go home."

Mabel relaxed at the almost too-wide grin that her brother gave her, not bothered by the too sharp teeth that he bared. "S'go!" She cheered, taking off ahead of him.

She couldn't fight her own grin climbing onto her face as her brother took off after her, shouting out her name in exasperation.

~TCCBJVLRGVRCQUVNQWTWRHWNNP~

Mabel collapsed into her bed, staring up at the gray ceiling. Stretching across the hard, cheap mattress, she couldn't stop the yawn that hijacked her mouth.

"Grunkle Stan, I want pizzaaaaa." She whined.

Grunkle Stan scowled at her. "I've already told you, no pizza. Delivery's way too expensive. They actually expect a tip by doing their job!"

Mabel buried her head into the rough pillow. "Pizzaaaaa..." She moaned again.

"No." He replied firmly. "We need to conserve as much money as we can. This motel room isn't cheap, ya know!"

Unbeknownst to Grunkle Stan, however, Dipper rolled his eyes. Floating in the corner of the room, he let his eyes rove over the room.

As anyone would expect, Stan got the cheapest motel room he could find complete with pale gray walls, vomit-colored carpeting that not only had questionable stains in it but wall peeling up in a number of areas, a single bed with a small end table, and not much else. Dead June bugs littered the ground and smacked against the one grimy window they had while flies and mosquitoes buzzed around the room. Cockroaches happily scurried along the walls, their feelers flickering around as they did so.

Dipper sneered in disgust. How Mabel was able to sit in a room like this was a mystery to him. At least he was invisible and intangible.

"Pizzaaaaaa." Mabel moaned again.

"No."

"Dipper wants pizza too. He told me." Mabel said.

"Mabel! Don't put words in my mouth!" Dipper exclaimed at the same time Stan said, "no he didn't. He can't eat."

"Dipper wants me to have pizza." Mabel corrected herself. "That's two votes out of three."

Stan rolled his eyes. Though he couldn't see or hear his nephew, he was sure Dipper said nothing of the sort. "Yeah, but this isn't a democracy and I say no pizza."

Mabel groaned and finally sat up. Her hair stuck in all different directions. "But I'm hungry!" She complained.

"We just ate."

"I'm still hungry."

Stan scowled. Finally, he reached out and grabbed a bag of chips he had in an unpacked grocery bag. He tossed it to Mabel.

"Here." He grunted.

Realizing she wouldn't win this battle, she grumbled about not liking the flavor before cracking the bag open and stuffing some chips into her mouth, chewing like a cow while crumbs fell into her bed.

"You're getting crumbs all over the bed." Dipper told her.

"So?" She replied.

"Huh?" Stan said.

"Dipper's complaining about crumbs in the bed."

Grunkle Stan snorted. "Your bed. Don't complain to me if roaches decide to crawl on you."

Mabel didn't reply, just continued to stuff the off-brand chips into her face.

Stan stretched out his back, a large crack filling the air. "Well, I'm going to bed."

"Goodnight Grunkle Stan." Mabel said, dropping the empty bag onto the ground and snuggling into a better position.

Grunkle Stan reached out and clicked off the light, settling into his own small nest on the ground. "Night Mabel." A slight beat. "Night Dipper."

Mabel hummed lightly in response for her brother.

Dipper listened closely as his Grunkle's breathing evened out and slowed down as he was eased into sleep.

He continued to float in the air, next to the gross and dirty window.

He couldn't sleep.

Literally.

Staring out the window, seeing nothing but darkness, loneliness and sorrow crept onto him, just as hard as it was the first night.

He heard Mabel's breath even slow down and settle. She'd fallen asleep.

He let out a quiet sigh. Twisting slightly around in the air, Dipper wished, not for the first time, he could sleep. Back when he was a human, (which wasn't even a week ago, now that he thought about it) he almost never slept, staying up all night to figure out and decide mysteries while making new conspiracies. He almost hated it when he had to sleep.

He couldn't help but bark out a small laugh. It was all so terribly ironic, wasn't it.

He shifted around in the air, feeling uncomfortable. For the past few days, he couldn't help but feel awkward in his own skin. Well, more awkward than usual. He felt...gross, in a way.

Under-dressed.

Twitching slightly, he lightly closed his eyes. He had an idea, though he wasn't so sure it would work. Sure, Bill could do things, but that was in the Mindscape and he wasn't in the Mindscape. Or maybe he was? It was all so terribly confusing. The questions that had answers before seemed so far away. He could recall them, barely, but the answers he got didn't match up with the questions he had now.

Forcing himself to relax, Dipper lightly focused on what he was wearing...why he was even uncomfortable in the first place.

The familiar, but claustrophobic weight from his head disappeared, along with the puffy-feeling vest and the too loose shirt. His legs, which was bare for the world to see, were covered up.

Shoulders tense, Dipper opened his eyes.

He glanced down at the neatly pressed black slacks that covered his legs. Equally nice, well polished shoes covered his feet and replaced the ratty tennis shoes he had worn before.

He glanced down at his cuffs, lightly playing with a small golden triangle cuff link while straightening them. Brushing down his suit jacket, he admired the smooth feeling that ran underneath his fingertips. Having no prime connection to the physical world, Dipper enjoyed actually being able to feel something for once, even if it was just his own clothing.

Making sure his tail-coat hung properly, he proceeded to make sure his bow-tie was not only straight, but tight as well. Reaching up, he gently touched the brim of his floating top hat, amusement dancing in his eyes.

He stretched out, suddenly feeling so much better.

Why he didn't do this days ago, he didn't know.

Leaning into the corner, Dipper turned from the window to the rest of the room. The only sound that penetrated the silence was the sound of many different types of bugs flying around in the air. He could clearly see every individual insect, not just their general shape.

Glancing down at his twin, Dipper made a couple of quick notes on her. She was splayed out over the bed, covers only over half her body. Light snores echoed from her nose and mouth while her eyes fluttered underneath her lids in REM sleep.

She was having a good dream. Like before, every time he was near a sleeping person, he could simply tell what sort of dream they were having. If it was a nightmare, sweet, embarrassing, or even just an array of different sensations or feelings. Telling the mood of a dream only took distance.

Floating a few inches closer to Mabel, he could clearly sense that her nighttime escape was peaceful. Soft, calm. Like the soft laps of the ocean on glittering sand. Smiling contently, Dipper pulled away.

Glancing at the only other person in the room, Dipper moved over to Stan. Like Mabel, he was spread out across the floor, his mass of blankets and bath towels twisted up around him. Mouth hung wide open, he grunted and snorted, nasal snores escaping his mouth.

Dipper shook his head. His Grunkle was definitely not a pretty sleeper. Well, a pretty anything, now that he thought of it...

Dipper shuddered. Nope. Nope. Not going to let his mind wander there, no not at all. Ugh.

Unlike Mabel's dream, Stan's was one of feelings and emotion. Like a breeze ruffling long grass in a meadow. Or flickering candle light on a dying wick.

Dipper pulled away and returned to his corner.

He sighed as he floated, bored. Nighttime was so slow and boring. Glancing at the window, he briefly weighed the option of going out. It's not like he'd bother anyone or anything.

Plus, he didn't want his thoughts to wander.

Making his decision, Dipper gave his family another glance before phasing out of the room and into the street.

Floating down from the second floor, he let himself hover over the sidewalk, straightening his legs.

Balance was difficult when he tried to mimic standing. He felt oddly top-heavy. Stumbling in midair a bit, he ended up relaxed once again, legs slightly curled up underneath him.

He made his way down the cracked sidewalk, ignoring the messy and loud bars that he passed. The street lights flickered, old and worn while the moon and stars stared downwards at him, silent judgment from above.

Getting bored of the nightly activities around him, he let himself levitate higher, faintly feeling the weight of bugs pass through him with disgust.

He settled neatly onto a flat gray building. Feeling a little lost and very confounded, he stared up at the sky.

Nights were the hardest. It was the only time he was left alone with his thoughts, a place he dreaded to wander.

Yet, despite his misgivings, despite his own warnings and struggles, his mind drifted away into darker thoughts.

Curling up into a fetal position, a crushing depression gripped him, choking him into pathetic submission.

The standard questions ripped through his mind, hot and heavy.

Why did this happen?

Why me?

Why, why, why?

He curled up tighter, self-loathing boiling in his chest.

Why did this have to happen? It was all his fault. The world going crazy...and now he's a demon.

Like Bill.

He knew it. Knew that was the reason he had felt under dressed. Why he felt such, such, glee when he saw an animal get hurt.

Or better yet, a human.

It was sickening in it's own twisted way, really. He could almost see the blood run through the bags of meat around him, feel their short life ticking away.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

Oh, look. Now you're dead.

Laughter bubbles in the back of his throat at his morbid thoughts, causing alarm to shoot through him.

More tears welled in his eyes, golden as they always were now and always will be.

Gold like the sun.

Gold like Bill.

Dipper grounded his teeth together to choke back sobs. Though no one else could hear him doesn't mean that he wanted to hear himself.

He wanted to get out of this mess. Wanted to so badly.

On an instinctual and logical level, Dipper knew that what had happened to him was permanent.

Knew it was impossible to be human again.

But another part of him, a stronger and more despite part of him wanted out.

His inner child was kicking, screaming, and refusing. He's not going to stay like this, there must be a way out. That part of him, the young child that he was...is, echoed in his mind, a lost part of himself he refused to relinquish.

His normal logical thought process abandoned him as he slowly uncurled himself, lying down on his back to stare up at the thin and delicate networks of drops above him.

Emotion, stubbornness, and determination swirled under his skin and within his mind.

He'd find a way out of this. He always did. He just had to try. Research, look for answers, figure out the secret.

He was going to turn himself back human.

Or destroy himself trying.

~TCCBJVLRGVRCQUVNQWTWRHWNNP~

This story is now poster on Tumblr if you want to follow it. (My Tumblr name's Lanx Boreails) I am currently working on the 7th chapter of this story.

I've decided that this is going to be in an "Arc" format, meaning there is no overall arching plot but multiple small slice-of-life plots that are all connected. This story will cover the course of the next 3 years after the Transcendence and I currently have the entire first year planned out with a total of 10 arc stories with a few oneshots thrown between to connect everything together better.

Arcs can both be long and short. Some might be a single chapter long, some may be ten chapters long. It matters on what's going on.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for reading!