Chapter 3

"Heir today, Gone Tomorrow"

Part 2

Will was in the kitchen finishing up dinner felt Dipper's magic pulse reach him, signaling that their guests had arrived. He knew he had maybe ten more minutes before he had to be there to serve the first course. Now that the butler was back from picking up Pacifica and Gideon, he would take over arranging the meals on the plates. Will had asked if he should not be present for dinner, but Headmaster had insisted that Will should still be there. After all, they had already seen Will anyway.

Will waited until he had heard the general murmur of voices in the dining room before he entered. Pacifica was sitting next to Gideon who was sitting on the left of Ford, at the head of the table. Dipper was sitting at his usual place on Ford's right and Mabel was next to him. Pacifica was excitedly chatting to Ford. It was clear to Will that the subtle, slightly hostile vibe underneath the twins smiles had not been picked up by her yet. Gideon on the other hand, seemed to sense that something was not quite right. He kept glancing around, as if he expected a monster to come walking around a corner. He didn't realize that the most dangerous monsters in Gravity Falls were already at the table. Pacifica was excited to be in the Gleeful mansion, and was doing her best to maintain pleasant conversation. Her eyes widen when she saw Will though.

"Oh, Will! Hi!" she cried happily. "Will you be joining us too?"

"Um, no," Will glanced Headmaster, wishing he would give him some kind of clue as to what he should say. He didn't want to get punished for anything later. Headmaster merely raised an eyebrow at him though.

"Oh, ok," Pacifica frowned. "But you do live here?"

"Yes, I do." Will stared at his shoes, wishing she wouldn't talk to him. He began to place the first course on the table. Human tended to get distracted by food, so maybe she wouldn't ask him anymore questions.

"So," Pacifica turned to look at him more directly. "Are you related to them," she nodded at the twins, "in some way?" Will's head jerked up, eyes wide in horror and a bright blush flaring on his cheeks. Before he could stutter some explanation, the twins burst out laughing.

"Him? Related to us?" Mabel gasped between fits of laughter.

"He's foster care." Dipper snickered as he wiped at his eyes.

"He was unwanted by everyone else, and he had nowhere to go. We don't need the money, obviously," Ford clarified, "but we did want to help." All three member of the Gleeful family gave Will the same smile. A smile that froze Will's blood, and turned his legs to stone. He had long ago associated that particular smile with pain and torment. He knew that the only escape was to find an excuse to be as far away as possible, for as long as possible, and hope they forgot about him. "Will stays here because he wants to be here. He knows that this is the best place for him."

"Besides," Mabel added with a hand placed under her chin. "He's likes it here. You're happy here, aren't you, Will?"

"Yes, of course." Will mumbled, staring very hard at his shoes.

"Why does he act like a servant?" Gideon's voice was quiet but Will could hear the firm control on it. Will was surprised, it sounded much older than a nine-year old.

"We all have chores. It's his turn this week." Mabel added with a toss of her hair.

"Oh, alright then." Pacifica smiled timidly at Will, before turning back to her host to make conversation. Will wasn't sure if she truly bought the Gleeful's lies or not, but clearly she was going take it at face value. Gideon was watching Will very closely, and looking much too aware for his age. Will stepped back so Ford was between them, and just focused on being as small and unobtrusive as possible.

"So, Pacifica and Gideon," Dipper asked about halfway though the meal. "How long have you two been living in this town, a week? Two? You like it here? Enjoy the scenery?" Mabel hid her snicker, behind her hand.

Pacifica snorted, and rolled her eyes. "Ya, I guess. What we see when we aren't being chased by gnomes and swamp monsters."

All three members of the Gleeful family froze. Ford recovered first. "You have seen the unusual things in this town?"

"Yes!" Pacifica rolled her eyes around. "Finally, I thought no one would ever ask! Gideon," she shoved him playfully, but he almost got knocked out of his chair. "has all of these notes and theories. He even found this crazy journal in the words."

For the second time, all three members of the Gleeful house froze. Will looked at Headmaster in shock. That journal was not supposed to be found—by anyone—except Master. How could this, this kid find it? Gideon was looking around nervously, like he expected someone to pounce. "Yes…" he said slowly, still gauging the emotions around him.

Pacifica seemed to be the only one, who was not aware of the mode of the room. "You have it with you don't you, Gideon? Show them."

"Um…" Gideon nervously bit his lip, and looked like he was about to bolt.

"Please," Ford said smoothly, and held out his hand. "I would very much like to see it."

Gideon looked at Ford's outstretched hand in amazement. He sucked in a quick breath in shock, and his eyes' flew back up to Ford's face. "You are the author?" He breathed in shock.

"Of the Journal? Quite possibility." Ford smiled kindly at Gideon. "Could I see it please? If it is what I think it is, I haven't seen it in a long time."

"Um ok then," Gideon slid a hand inside his vest and brought out the journal. It was the journal all right. Right down to the magnifying glass with it. The gold colored 6-fingered hand was on the cover, with the big 3 inked in the center. Ford smiled fondly and flipped through it.

Mabel smiled charmingly at Gideon. "Wow, Gideon, that's amazing. Where did you find it." Will saw her kick Dipper underneath the table. He looked like he was about to choke on his food. His face flushed and glared daggers at Gideon, hands clenched underneath the table.

"Um," I found in the woods, near the Hut." He was looking back and forth between the twins, trying to figure out what was going on. Even Pacifica was looking concerned, finally picking up that something was not right. "It was in a secret compartment near a tree."

"You found the gnome's weakness?" Ford's voice interjected in surprise.

"Yes. But that was more of Pacifica. She figured it out."

"Oh, stop it, Gid, you have discovered lots of things." Pacifica said brightly. "It's really come in handy the last few days."

"I see." Ford flipped to the last few pages. "You have made quite a bit of observations. You are very observant. How old are you?"

"I'm nine."

"Pretty smart for a kid. Handwriting is decent too," Ford mused as he went back to the Journal.

"You," Dipper paused as if the words physically pained him, "wrote. In. the. Journal."

"Yes." Gideon looked him square in the eye, eyes narrowing. "I found it, and there was no name in it, so I thought it was finder's keepers. But," he bit his lip uncertainly and looked at Ford. "I guess it belongs to you. Do you want it back?" He clearly didn't want to part with it.

"No, you can keep it. You clearly have been using it really well. Really well actually." For the first time, Gideon smiled— really smiled— at Ford. "But if you have any questions, be sure to ask me."

"Wow, really? I have soooo many questions!" and so the rest of the dinner was taken up with Gideon and Pacifica asking many questions to Ford. The rest of the dinner passed quickly, but Will noticed that Master in particular was very quiet.

After Gideon and Pacifica had left, Dipper finally voiced his opinion. "Great Uncle Ford, why did you let him keep the Journal? It was supposed to be mine!" Dipper finally demanded once they had left.

"First off, Dipper, I never promised that journal to you. I told you that you would find it, when you were ready. He found it first. He clearly has magic potential. The odds of him finding it just by chance are very remote. He clearly was drawn to it by magic, and he just didn't even realize it. It's amazing actually." Ford mused. "He is using his magic without even being aware of it. He has great potential."

"Why would you waste time on explaining things to him? We are already your apprentices and heirs?"

"I never promised you two were my heirs." Ice itself had more warmth then Ford's voice. "I said that this house, my magic heirlooms, Will," Will cringed at being mentioned in that tone, "will go to my strongest Magical apprentice." Ford calmly drank his tea. "I have had many apprentices over the years. While you two are my two strongest apprentices currently, but that doesn't mean others can't pass you by."

"But Grunkle Ford," Mabel wailed in protest, "We are your great niece and nephew!"

"That means nothing, Mabel." Ford's tone softened. "You two will always be my niece and nephew, but that may be all you are." He held up a six-fingered hand to stop anymore protest. "Enough. I have made my decision, and there will be no more discussion on it. If you two want to inherent everything, simply be my best apprentices."

"Yes, Great Uncle Ford." Dipper said, and Will could see the fire in his eyes. "We won't let you down."

"I'm sure you won't." Ford smiled fondly at them. "Goodnight to you both." After the twins left, Will moved closer to Ford. He noticed and raised an eyebrow. "What is it, Will?"

"Headmaster, can, I mean may," Will hastily corrected—Headmaster had a thing about proper grammar, stay in here for a while?"

"Why?"

Will fidgeted with his manacles. "I don't want to be around the twins for awhile," he murmured.

Headmaster chuckled. "Self-preservation, Will?" It didn't seem like a question, but more like a statement, so Will kept quiet. "Yes, you may stay in here for the evening. The twins aren't doing their show tonight, so they don't really need you."

"Thank you, Headmaster." Will went to one of the wall book shelves, making a duster appear in his hand. He wasn't sure if Headmaster really would leave everything to someone else. It was true Headmaster had had other apprentices over the years, but none were as talented as the twins. In fact, Will would be surprised if they didn't have a visitor from one of them tomorrow.

Will was not disappointed. "Hello, Pricilla." He greeted the middle-aged woman standing in the doorway. She looked about the same as he remembered. Her long light brown hair was tied back in a ponytail, and her eyes were a dark brown that matched Pacifica's. She was not in her prime anymore, but she was aging well. Will suddenly had a horrible vision of what could have been—of too wide lips, and horribly stretched out skin that looked like plastic. Will shuddered internally; at least it was just a possible outcome. She was dressed differently now though. She would dark grey shorts, with matching hiking boots, and a dark green t-shirt with the "Wonder Hut" blazed across it in black letters.

Pricilla eyes widen. "Will?"

"Um, yes, it's me." Will gave an awkward wave. "Hi."

"You have a physical form." It wasn't a questions, but Will still felt like he should answer.

"Yes, then twins gave it to me."

"So you are still just a lackey then, you haven't gained more power." Her eyes narrowed. "But you still help Stanford Gleeful."

"Yes," Will said miserably. "But I don't have a choice anymore, the twins—"

"You always have a choice, Will." She cut him off and pushed past him, clearly not interested anymore. "I'm not fighting with you about this again. I have come to fight with your master. Is his study still in the same place?" She didn't wait for an answer and walked with purpose to Headmaster's study.

She walked right up to Ford and placed her hands on her hips. "What do you think you are doing?"

Ford waited a few seconds before slowly closing his book, and looked up at her. "Is that how you great your old teacher, Pricilla? Tisc, tisic, I thought you had manners."

"Don't give me that, you old man, what game are you playing at?"

"Why the only game worth playing; Power." He gave her a creepy smile and he laced his hands together in front of himself.

Priscilla shook her head. "That's a stupid game, Ford. No one wins, and it destroys everything else. But that's not why I am here. I want you to leave my niece and her friend alone."

"I can't do that. You know how magic works; it is a two way street. Not only are they drawn to anything and everything magical, but everything will be drawn to them as well."

"Only if they study it. The more their power grows, so does the attraction of everything else center on them, like a bull-eye. I don't want that for them."

"You can't stop them from trying on their own."

"They won't get far. I'm not teaching them, and I don't want you to either." Ford merely raised an eyebrow. Will realized it too, she clearly didn't know that they had the Journal.

"As you wish, Priscilla. But I assume you have told them why you and I don't get along, so they know why they can't come?" When she didn't answer right away, Ford raised an eyebrow. "No? I'm surprised at you. How do you expect to explain to them why you don't like me, without telling they what our past is?"

"They will just have to trust me."

"Trust." Ford scoffed. "You don't have kids of your own so you don't understand. "

"I will protect them. I swear it."

"You also swore you would never step back into this mansion and look where you are now." With a glare, Priscilla spun around and left.

Dipper flipped through his Journal, scribbling down notes as fast as possible. He had no time to lose, he would learn everything he could, and go out and discover everything he could in the forest. He would learn everything faster, more complete, and overall just better then that Gideon. He would prove to Great Uncle Ford once and for all that he was his best student, and his future would be secure. He and his sister—he glanced over at her absently, and paused when he noticed that she was writing something down, but not in a notebook but on a piece of stationary. "What are you doing, Mabel? Don't you know we have a lot of work to do?"

She didn't answer right away, but folded the letter and placed it in an envelope. Dipper noticed it was her best stationary, the one with the blue and gold trim. "I'm securing our future." She picked up her bottle of perfume and spayed it on the letter. "I'm inviting Gideon on a date."

Dipper had to stop and think just to process that statement. "What? Why?" He finally asked.

"Because, Brother Dear, if Grunkle does end up choosing him –and I admit it is a big if," she added hastily with a hand raised to halt any interruptions, "I want to make sure we still receive what is ours. Everything will go to Gideon and me, and by extension, you, Brother."

Dipper sat and thought it though. With his sister in a relationship with Gideon, she would serve as a distraction to him, allowing him to move along at a faster rate in his studies. Gideon would most likely confide in her as well, giving them an edge if they ever needed it. And in the worst case scenario, even though the thought of his twin being married to that little pig was atrocious, it did have benefits. They would still have ties to the mansion and everything in it. And who was to say they couldn't do away with the little upstart after they inherited anyway? "Very well, Sister. I see your point. I admit, I'm impressed. You normally aren't this logical and cold. Just don't actually fall in love with him."

Mabel rolled her eyes and stood up, the addressed letter in her hand. "Please. As if I could ever fall for that little runt. "

The next day found Will polishing like normal, that is until Dipper came up behind him and grabbed his collar "Listen, Cipher, we are going on a hike."

"What, really? Why?" Will asked suspiciously. It wasn't like Master to want to get fresh air and be one with nature.

"I," Dipper paused and took a deep breath as if the words pained him. "I need your help. If I'm to get ahead of Gideon, I going to need to learn everything I can about the magical creatures in the forest." He flipped open his journal. "It mentions something about demon caterpillars in here but there is not a lot of information about them. And sense you are a dream demon, they are mostly like similar to you."

"That's like saying that French fries and Frenchmen are the same, cause they both have word French in them," Will said slightly hurt. "Besides, isn't that cheating? I'm not really supposed to help you…"

"Oh, don't think of it as cheating. Think of it as 'helping'. Unofficially and secretly."

"I don't know…"

"Hmm, let me put it this way." Dipper thought for a moment. He couldn't mutilate Will in any obvious way, Great Uncle Ford would be sure to notice, and the demon would be sure tell on him. On the other hand, Cipher would most likely not just tell Grunkle without prompting, so the main idea was to keep it so Grunkle wouldn't even ask. "Alright if you don't help me, I'll…" he paused, looking at Cipher's big blue eye for inspiration, "make it so you can't see in color anymore."

It worked. Cipher's mouth dropped open and his eye widen in shock. "No, no, Master, Please!"

"Oh, yes." Dipper chuckled: the demon was so easily to manipulate. "I'll make it so you can hear in only in monotone too."

"No," Cipher breathed. "No, I'll help."

"Good boy. Let's go catch us a caterpillar."

Dipper didn't really like nature. It always seemed to get in his way and was incredibly hard to get from one place to another. It didn't help that his magic aura was pretty strong and attracted other magical creatures.

"Ugh, how do these things keep finding us," Dipper grumbled and waved his hand in front of his face to shoo the fairies away.

"It's your magic aura, Master." Cipher piped up calmly from floating above him. Dipper frowned up at him. His slave was forbidden from using magic where it might attract notice from the townspeople—they were as dumb as rocks, but there was no sense in attracting trouble—but it still annoyed him. But he seemed to trip over every piece of log, stick and rock on the forest floor, so it was less trouble to let him hover.

"What does my aura, have to do with it," Dipper grumbled moodily.

"They are attracted to it, and want to see what is causing it. It's rarer in humans anyway."

Dipper frowned again. "Why aren't you swarmed by them than. You are supposed to be all powerful and everything."

He frowned, confused. "I'm a dream demon. Nothing here would dare mess with me."

"You make it sound like you are something to be avoided," Dipper griped.

"Most of my species are. There was this one—he was crazy powerful." Will flipped upsides down and continued floating.

"Don't you mean very powerful?"

"No, he is powerfully crazy. Like not normal crazy. He's way," Will gestured above his head but sense he was floating upside down, he was motioning towards the forest floor. "way, way crazy."

"Why couldn't I have summoned him then," Dipper was in no mood to be comforted. "Instead I get stuck with you, a useless crybaby."

Will decided it wasn't worth the pain to smart off. He glided over a fallen log. He didn't want Dipper's foul mood to influence him. It wasn't often he was allowed out of the mansion, so he wanted to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible. Event though he was trapped in this world, it was amazing.

He began to sense something familiar. He glided over to shady area, at the edge of a meadow. The leaves provided shade for the moist ground, but the rocks in the meadow were warmed during the day. It looked like the perfect place to find some demon caterpillars. He floated above a few of the stones and it wasn't long till he found some.

They were small, only about 3 inches long and they were covered in reddish-brown fur. Currently they were curled up on their side in the sun, asleep. "Here are some, Master." Will called from where he floated.

"Hmmmm, good job, Cipher. I guess you aren't completely useless then." Will felt his chest swell with pride at his Master's praise, however begrudgingly it was given. He kept back and out of the way as his master knelt next to them. He began to sketch them in his Journal. His sketches were done quickly but efficiently. It was only a few minutes until he done.

"Is that all you needed, Master?" Will inquired when he finished.

"Don't be stupid, Cipher," Dipper snorted. "I have to make sure I know everything about them. This is to impress Great Uncle Ford, remember. I have to make sure I am thorough." With a tug at his gloves, Dipper pulled them off and, to Will's unease, reached out to touch one.

"Ummm, I don't know if that's a good idea. They can be feisty."

Master rolled his eyes, as he gently stroked one of the caterpillars curled on its side. The fur on the side was soft, and moved to his touch. The caterpillar stirred at his touch, stretching out and un-curling. It had a dozen or so little black pointy legs on its underside. Its antenna uncurled as well, rising up on the top of its head, looking like fuzzy triangle ears on its head. Sticking off of its face though was some long stiff hairs, and it wasn't until it stretched and yawned, allowing Dipper to see the fangs inside of its mouth that allowed Dipper to make the connection. Oh, he thought, it's a Cat-er-pillar. He stroked it again, and felt it vibrate underneath his finger in a purr. He reached out and stroked all of them. "They are kind of cute."

"Yes…. but, Master, I wouldn't continue to touch them. They can be temperamental."

"Stop being a coward. They are caterpillars; what are they going to do?"

Well, Master clearly wasn't going to listen anymore. Will moved back to what he felt like was a safe distance. Which was about 15 feet straight up.

Dipper smiled as watched them crawl along on the rock. He flipped open his journal again and made a few more notes on their behavior. This was easy; soon he would be caught up to Gideon again. He gently toughed one again, watching as it arched its back into his touch. They are kind of sweet, Dipper thought as he watched them.

In a flash though, the caterpillar he was stoking whorled around and bit him—hard—on the hand. "Ouch!" Dipper yelled as jerked his hand back. "That—why did it bite me? I didn't do anything to it!" He yelled at Will. "I was stroking it like I had been!"

"I said they were temperamental." Dipper turned to look up at Will, hearing how far his voice was above him and how far away he was.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting out of their range," Will answered calmly, watching the caterpillars. They were very moody, and they were upset with Master now. "Master, you need to get away."

Dipper just rolled his eyes again. "Really, Cipher, they are caterpillars. What are they going do?" He turned back to them.

And begin to have doubts to his statement. They were clearly upset about something now. Their fur was standing up on end, and they were growling and hissing. All of them were watching him, with their yellow cat eyes. They certainly looked aggressive. But again, they were still just caterpillars.

Then they attacked. With a very cat-like yawl all of them leaped straight up at his face, arms and legs. It startled him so much that he tumbled back, falling on flat on his back. He screamed as he felt their all of their tiny little legs digging in and scratching him. "Cipher! Get them off!" His voice had jumped up several octaves and he swiped at them. But the caterpillars were incredibility fast and agile, rebounding almost immediately from the ground when he knocked them off.

Well, crap. Will had no desire to tangle with them, but he knew better then to disobey Master. He dropped down next to Dipper, startling the caterpillars back at the appearance of a dream demon. He reached up and, without thinking about it, jerked the one clinging to Master's face straight off, causing a dozen parallel tiny scratches on Master's face. Master screamed, causing Will to wince and really hoping Master wouldn't remember latter. He pulled Master upright and pushed him forward into the woods. "Come on, we need to move."

Master did not need any encouragement. He took off at a dead run through the woods back to the Mansion. Will followed, but stayed behind to guard Mater's back. He flew backwards so he could watch to see if they were being chased. Which they were.

The caterpillars bounded after them, jumping up and down around the forest brush, moving much faster than one would have thought possible for their small size. But then again, they were Demon Cat-a- pillars. Will waited as they got near and then, levitating up a huge drop of water from a passing stream hurled it at them. The caterpillars screamed in protest as they were drenched and stopped following.

Master didn't stop running until they were safely back at the mansion. He stopped outside, panting and out of breath. He tried to gain his composure before going inside. What would his great uncle think if he found out his nephew just fled from a bunch of caterpillars.

He turned to glare at Will. "Did you know they were like that?"

"I tried to warn you." Will said in surprise. With a timid finger, he reached out and touched Master on the cheek, healing him.

Master shook his head. "You never said they were demon cat-er-pillars."

"You didn't ask." Will dropped to the ground to stand on his feet. He looked at Dipper innocently.

Dipper opened his mouth, then just shut it and shook his head. Will was hopeless, absolutely hopeless. "You aren't helping me anymore. You're unreliable." He jerked up the door and went inside. He was done with exploring for the day.

Will sighed as he followed him inside but allowed himself a small, self-satisfied smile. Good.

AN: The Plot thickens! I know that the plot is deviating from the original, but some things just don't work the same. Like, the Author of the Journals was such a secret, because he was stuck in another dimension. Ford didn't try to hide the fact from Dipper when he came back. So I saw no reason for Ford to hide it from Gideon. Hopefully this will keep the story interesting.

Priscilla Southeast: I changed her appearance, because she looks terrifying in the show. Besides, she isn't rich and famous in this AU, so she wouldn't try so hard to stay 'perfect'. Don't worry, backstory on her and Ford will be given as the story goes.

Demon Caterpillars: This is one of the few things we know is included in Journal 2. Unless Alex Hirsch does more then he intends with this show right now (knock on wood), we might never know more about them. Based on the other creatures we see in the show and in the book form of Journal 3, Demon Cat-er-pillers seemed like a pretty logical guess. Part of the reason I like this AU is because I get to have fun guessing at what Journal 2 contains, as well as adding other magical creatures. So if anyone has any ideas for magical creatures or adventures for the twins, I would love to hear them! No promises on how many or how much I can include, but I love this AU because it is many created by fans working together. :)

As always, thanks to everyone who is Following and Favorited this story! Please review! All reviews, good and bad, are appreciated and help me to be a better writer. Thanks for your time!