*/- GRAVITY FALLS -\*
"Have I done well, Master?" The man sat in a chair, watching the boy comfort the girl. He smiled.
"Yes, my girl, brilliant. Now, please rejoin yourself and step forward so I may congratulate you." He watched as the spiders scuttling in front of him ran into one another, and eventually forming a woman with a giant spider's abdomen. Once upon a time, she had been beautiful, but an egotistical goddess had turned her into a beast. Granted, Arachne did have it coming, because, although her weaving was very beautiful, she became too prideful, and insulted all the beings of power.
"Is something wrong, my Master?" Arachne shuffled her eight legs, clearly worrying that she had actually failed. Last time she was killed, she hadn't regenerated for another 15 years. Granted, it was better than some other monsters had, but it was still a long time.
"No, my child, nothing. Here." He tossed her a giant hunk of meat. She smelled it, then dove in realizing it was one of Apollo's red cows. "You earned it, my sweet. At long last, we have the boy. At long last, we might finally live free." The man laughed a hearty laugh, knowing he would win. No one has ever beaten him before, and no one ever will.
*/- GRAVITY FALLS -\*
Eventually, Pacifica's sobs turned to whimpers. She couldn't believe it. Why on Earth did she call out to him? Now he was going to die, and there was nothing she could do about it. She wouldn't have minded dying; it would honestly be the only good thing she's done lately. But now Dipper was here. 'Well, maybe he can think of some plan to get us out of here?' Pacifica knew deep down that was only wishful thinking.
"Pacifica?"
He was calling her back into reality. "Y-Yeah?"
"I know you're hurt, and upset, but I don't know why. I need you to tell me what happened."
She nodded her head. "O-Okay." She swallowed the fresh wave of tears about to erupt. "W-Where do you want me t-to start from?"
Dipper looked almost scared when she asked that question. "W-What do you mean? I thought this all only happened to you at the most a few days ago." He looked genuinely surprised and, upon deeper inspection, Pacifica realized he didn't look almost scared, he was scared.
She gulped nervously. "I-I'll just start from the beginning."
Dipper nodded his head. "Y-Yeah. You do that."
"It started the day you left Gravity Falls, on your thirteenth birthday." Dipper's face quickly drained of all blood. She should have told some one sooner. "As I was packing my stuff to leave Gravity Falls, a voice whispered to me. It told me that it was in danger, and that it needed my help. After the party, I really wanted to do everything I could to be a better person, so I agreed to help. I should've known whatever it was planning would be bad when it made a contract appear, and I had to sign it. I was just so blinded by the thought of finally doing something good and worthwhile in this world, I didn't realize the evil behind this. It asked me to do so many evil things, always putting words behind the actions to make them sound good. Put those cigarettes in Sarah's purse; she gave you the wrong answer on purpose. She's trying to stop you. All these actions were horrible, but the worst happened my senior year. A guy, well, he tried getting into my pants. I told him to stop, but he didn't; he was too drunk to comprehend anything. The voice told me to do something horrible. It told me to wrap my hands around his throat, and to never let go until he stops. I killed that boy. I got off without any charges, as it was technically an act of self-defense, but it is still horrible. That's when I put my foot down. I told the voice to stop lying to me, and to tell me what the real plans were. It laughed, but this time it sounded like billions of voices. I blacked out. I woke up the next morning with a scar and a note. The note told me that punishment was to be inflicted when I disobeyed. It told me the punishments always got worse every time. I didn't stop, though. Sometimes I obeyed, but only if they weren't too big, such as lying. I never did anything more than words, and my words were never cruel, like telling someone to go and kill themselves. My parents naturally kicked me out as soon as they could. I soon realized I was alone. I didn't want to be alone. I finally went looking for the source of the voice. It seemed amused by my plans to find it, and actually gave me hints. Eventually, it told me I was in front of it. The only problem was, there was no one there! It told me to look down, and when I did, it was spider. It started laughing again, and that's when I noticed more spiders trickling into the room. I was surrounded. What made this punishment worse was the fact that, this time, I could see it happening. They forced me to do all their dirty work. I could no longer say no; they had tied threads around my neck, and if I disobeyed in public, they would pull and choke me. I was trapped. That is, until one day it told me of a new plan. It told me to return to Gravity Falls, and that the rest would be taken care of. They told me if I did that, I would be free. So I came back, a-and they snatched me. They've been doing strange things to me, Dipper. I should be dead. One day, I asked them why they were holding me hostage. I had just thought they had wanted a ransom, but it was worse. They told me they wanted you. I had just gone along with it until I realized, why do they need you? Earlier today, I finally mustered the courage to ask them a-and, w-well, t-th-they…" Pacifica looked up into Dipper's curious eyes and let loose a sob. "They want to kill you! I'm sorry, Dipper! I'm so sorry! Now you're going to die, and it's all my fault! I'm sorry!" Pacifica didn't know what she expected him to do, but what he did do surprised her.
*/- GRAVITY FALLS -\*
Wendy and Soos had just gotten out of the car under Mabel's orders. They were to split up and search the woods, while Mabel was to drive around town. When they disappeared behind the trees, Mabel finally let loose. She had been holding back tears for what seemed like forever, but now she wasn't holding back. She leaned her head against the steering wheel and just sobbed. As much as she hated it, she knew something horrible was going to happen. She knew someone would not walk out of this alive. She didn't know what to do.
Knock knock knock.
Mabel jerked her head up to see who was knocking on her window. She nearly had a heart attack when she saw who it was. "Robbie!?"
He signaled for her to roll down the window. "Hey, Mabel, what are you doing here? And why are you crying?" He regretted those words immediately.
Mabel's bottom lip began trembling in a heart-wrenching way. She couldn't hold it back. The sob exploded into the air. "Dipper's going to die!" She laid her head against the wheel to cry once more.
"W-What are you talking about? How do you know? Where is he?" Robbie did a few circles looking around the area, only to see nothing.
"He came here last night to save Pacifica Northwest, but I had a dream last night, and I know he's going to die. Either him or someone else, and if someone else was to die, he would never forgive himself. That means he's going to die!"
Robbie shook his head. 'No,' he thought, 'this kid is not about to sacrifice himself.' Robbie was slightly startled by the thought of protecting the twerp. He did, after all, save him twice. It was the least Robbie could do. "Where should I start searching?"
*/- GRAVITY FALLS -\*
Ford loaded the gun as Stan jumped out with his. Stan shot a few times at the now burning wreckage.
"What the fuck was that, Sixer?! And what the hell is it doing by Dipper's car?!" Stan almost stepped into a puddle of its blood, but managed to evade it.
"Well, Stanley, if you had thought to actually listen to me, you would have heard me scream Chimera!" Ford had been driving when he saw the wreckage. As Stan had gotten out to check it out, a lion-goat-snake hybrid had jumped out. Its snake tail had spat venom while its lion head proceeded to burn the wreckage. Stan had managed a clear shot to its temple, killing it immediately. As Ford got out, he realized the blood was not the Chimera's. He quickly checked Stan for anything, and then he realized it was old and dry: Dipper. Ford put out the fire as quickly as he could and checked the car. There was no sign of Dipper. "Jesus, fuck, where is that kid?!"
"Think about it, Ford. If his – he's not here, he must be somewhere else." Ford nodded his head rather violently. He bent down and picked something up. "Whatcha got there?"
Ford held up a picture and a note. The picture was of Dipper; it was when he and Ford had first gone into the alien wreckage, the day when he offered Dipper the apprenticeship, the day when he almost tore those to kids apart. The day Weirdmaggedon began. Ford choked back tears and read the note. It appeared to be addressed to Mabel, but as he was about to put it in his pocket, he noticed writing on the back.
"Dear Great Uncle Ford, I am alright. I have no doubt that you found this in my car, after Mabel saw her note and left it there. Don't worry. I am going to be okay. I have to tell you, Mabel told me what happened… that day. Please don't blame yourself if anything happens. There was no way you could prevent what happened, just as there is no way you can prevent whatever will happen. Gruncle Ford, I know what's going to happen. I've… I've known since last time. Now is where I tell you why I'm still here. I can't die with this on my chest, so here goes. After I died, everything did not go black. I was also not still there, watching the whole scene. I was… well I was back… back at Bill's pyramid palace. He sat there, but he wasn't him. He was… he was human. He stood up from his throne and walked over to me. He told me that he was surprised to see me so soon. I asked him what he meant. He told me that he knew everything, but not everything. At this point I was confused. That's when he told me what was supposed to happen. He then offered me a… a second chance. He said I had a humongous job, and that I needed to be the one to do it. He told me I needed to stay in Gravity Falls, and I needed to find something. I didn't want to be dead, so I blindly took his offer. I didn't realize the consequences of what I had done. When I came back, I was plagued with nightmares. They weren't normal ones. They were… they were how everyone would die. According to Bill, nothing is definite until we get there, including our deaths. I saw every. Single. Way. You all could die. How I could die. When y'all forced me out of Gravity Falls, though, they changed. Not everyone else's, just mine. My death was always the same. No matter what I did, I was going to die that way. One night, Bill visited me in my mind. I asked him why, and he told me part of the deal was to stay, and I didn't, so now my fate was the equivalent of sealed. These dreams eventually drove me to the brink of insanity, and I stopped sleeping. I couldn't bare the looks of everyone's faces as they perished. Sometimes I slept, though, and while watching the deaths, I would see flashes of powerful beings I had never seen or heard of. I continued on with my life, just ignoring it all. That is, until I got the call from Pacifica. Ford, this is my destiny, what I need to do. Please do what I know Mabel didn't, and turn around. Hold onto that photo; it was one of the best and worst days of my life, almost like this one. I'm finally returning home, but at a cost. Don't blame yourself. Don't fight with Gruncle Stan anymore. Live your lives, go on adventures. I'll be – I was going to say I'll be okay, but I won't, and that's okay. Keep Mabel safe for me. Please? Love, Dipper."
Ford stumbled back into Stan, who had been reading it from over his shoulder. He turned to face Stan, who was also sobbing, and hugged him. They sat in the road for a while, just hugging and crying. When they got into the car, Stan looked at his brother.
"So what are we doing now?"
Ford pulled the strap over and buckled. "What Dipper asked us to; we're going to protect Mabel."
*/- GRAVITY FALLS -\*
[AN: Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. I'm honestly so ridiculously involved in this fandom, I'm drowning in work. I hope you like this chapter, weaved with glorious backstories and feels. Leave reviews with your thoughts on it! Thanks guys, love you!]
