Gideon is known to have strange dreams. Dreams that usually are from his younger years, where he would be playing in his parents' yard and come face to face with strange creatures. The details are never clear, being left with faint images and feelings that leaves him very confused. But this dream that he is having is very different, for he feels very much conscious and alert.
He is standing in the middle of the stage in his performing tent, the stage lights being more intense than normal with the lack of color around him. There is no one in the audience, not even his father projecting the lights. He is seemingly all alone, though he has the feeling that he is performing for someone.
"You really got a face for TV, kid!" a strange voice echoes though the tent. "I bet you can make it to Hollywood if you try hard enough! And are willing to give up your sanity."
Gideon blinks, having a triangular shadow block the stage light. The light fades down, to where Gideon has an easier time to see the triangle before him. He stares at it, noticing that it has one eye, a top hat, and a bowtie.
"Wha...?"
...Why is he dreaming about a floating dorito that is dressed as a gentleman? That thing looks like a dorito... Is it a cool ranch dorito, being blue and all?
The flying dorito sighs.
"Get your head out of the...what it's called again?"
It pauses.
"...Well, whatever. I need you to wake up so you can meet up with Paz, Gideon!"
"'...Paz?'"
The name does not ring a bell, Gideon having a hard time rapping his head around the whole scenario. When he takes too long to answer, the magical cool ranch dorito gets impatient and brings out a black cane.
"I'm talking about your friend Pacifica, short stack!" It hits Gideon's head with the cane. "Pacifica needs you to meet her at the Tent of Water!"
It pauses for a second.
"Wait...I don't think that's right..."
It ponders while Gideon rubs his head, feeling an intense pain from where the dorito hit him.
"Hey! That hurt!"
He is trying to keep his eyes from watering. The dorito rolls its single eye.
"Geez, you really are a baby," it says. "I didn't even hit you that hard!"
Gideon glares up at it.
"...Wait!" His eyes grew wide. "Did you say something about Pacifica?"
"There we go!"
The dorito flies around him happily.
"Yes, Paz! You need to meet her at your tent thingy as soon as you wake up!"
It floats higher up into the air.
"And remember to be quick about it! Otherwise that old man...guy may get to her. Or you!"
The dorito starts to glow blue, the surrounding area beginning to fade like a melted painting.
"I'll see you again soon, kid!" it exclaims. "Bye~"
It's voice slowly fades till the dorito vanishes. Gideon feels a great amount of heat flow pass him, making it hard to breathe as he senses himself waking up from the dream...
Opening his eyes, Gideon stares up at his bedroom's ceiling, feeling a heavy blanket that is laying over him. He blinks, sitting up and staring at the blanket.
Wait...he did not have this on when he first went to bed. He only has one blanket on him in the summer, so why does he...?
He pushes it off of him, and though it is dark, he can see some kind of marking on right hand. Like he has just seen a snake, Gideon jumps out of bed and runs to his desk, turning on the lamp and looking down at hand. Written in childish black sharpie, it reads:
'The dream is real
-Bill'
He can feel his face pale. What does this mean? Is Pacifica in trouble? The dorito, apparently named Bill, talked about meeting her at the Tent of Wonder. Did something worse happen with her parents? Is Pacifica considering...?
He stares down at his hand for a long moment, till he sees that there is something written below his wrist.
'Look what I did to your other hand.'
Hesitantly, he glances down at his left hand. There is an outline of his palm and fingers, on his thumb a little bird beak and two eyes. And in the middle of the drawing it says:
'Hey look a turkey :D!'
...There are no words to describes how Gideon feels right now.
Regardless, he is convinced that the dream he had is real, and quickly puts on a t-shirt and shorts. He then opens his bedroom window and crawls out it. He makes a run for the Tent of Wonder, his heart pounding in his chest as he hopes Pacifica is there all right. Bill mentioned something about an old man coming after her if he is not quick enough... Does he mean the homeless man, McGucket? He is known to be a bit snappish, yes, but he has yet to really hurt anyone...
Still, Gideon fears the worst, for anything can happen in the dark of night.
Finally, he reaches the Tent of Wonder, where to his relief, he sees Pacifica standing there with a flashlight.
"Pacifica!"
He runs up to her, and at the sound of his voice, Pacifica aims her flashlight right at him.
"Gideon! I'm glad you came."
Gideon pants heavily, taking a moment to catch his breath.
"...P-Pacifica! You won't believe what happened to me!" He takes in heavy breaths as he speaks. "I know this is gonna sound crazy, but I had a dream about some flying, talking dorito wanting me to come meet you here tonight! At first I thought I was just having my usual strange dreams...but look!"
He shows her both of his hands, where Bill's writing and drawing are clear to see. Pacifica blinks, studying them closely.
"...Really? Bill did this?"
"You know him?!"
Gideon stares at her like she has gone mad, where she gives an uneasy laugh.
"Sorta. You see Gideon..."
From a large, bright purple book bag, Pacifica takes out the journal he had given her yesterday. Already, it is full of bookmarks and stuffed with notes, where she quickly opens the book up to a certain page.
"The...'dorito' is Bill Cipher," Pacifica explains, pointing to the page. "He's a spirit from this dream world and I came into contact with him last night."
Gideon's heart stops as he stares at the picture of Bill, looking just like the thing from his dream. But what causes his face to pale and fear to rise is the text he reads, the ritual needed to summon it. A ritual. That can only mean one thing...
"...Pacifica what did you do?"
His body shakes uncontrollably, as if a large weight has suddenly been dropped upon him. Pacifica swiftly comes to his side, putting the journal up and holding him up.
"Gideon I know this looks bad," she says, defending herself. "But you saw Bill earlier and he means well."
"That's right! Completely harmless!"
As if on cue, Bill Cipher appears out of thin air, having Pacifica and Gideon enter a dream like state. Gideon looks up, seeing that the demon is twirling his cane cheerfully.
"Relax, kid," Bill says. "You're gonna give yourself a heart attack from the fear your giving off."
Gideon flinches back, expecting that the demon is going to strike and take his soul, or whatever he wants, at any second. Pacifica glares at him.
"Stop scaring him, Bill." She crosses her arms. "I appreciate you telling Gideon to come, but really? A turkey?"
"What? I thought I did a good job!"
He flies up to her, an innocent look in his bright yellow gaze to contrast with Pacifica's icy stare. Gideon watches the two, completely stunned.
"...When I said that you needed to open yourself up more, this isn't what I meant!"
Pacifica turns to face him.
"Look...I didn't bring you out here to argue about Bill," she confesses. "I only wanted to show him to make you believe me when I say that this journal is magical!"
She takes it out again and starts skimming through the pages.
"This book right here proves that I was right all along! That not only are there gnomes here in Gravity Falls, but much, much more! And Bill is only the beginning..."
She passes the book to Gideon, encouraging him to read it. He blinks, glancing down at the journal, his gaze moving between it, Pacifica, and Bill. His stomach twists with uneasiness, where he eventually opens it and skims.
Using the flashlight for light, he reads about all these supposed sightings and findings that were found in Gravity Falls, seeing some of the notes Pacifica has written to confirm some of them. It does not take long until Gideon finds himself completely overwhelmed, handing the book back to her and letting out a heavy sigh.
"So...what does this all mean?" he finally asks. "You summoned a demon and that proves magic is real. What is it that you're trying to gain?"
Pacifica narrows her eyes, putting the journal away for the final time. She seems partly hurt that her friend did not understand of what all this ultimately means, but she does her best to keep her emotions in check.
"It means that there is much more to Gravity Falls," she explains. "Lost secrets, things yet to be discovered... And this journal is the key to all of it! We could find all this and-"
"'We?'"
Gideon cuts her off before turning his gaze to the demon.
"...Can you excuse us for a moment, Bill?"
Without waiting for a reply, he grabs Pacifica by the wrist and pulls her off to the side to where Bill would be out of ear shot. He waits a moment to make sure the demon does not follow, and once he feels safe, he turns to his friend and blurts out, "Pacifica, this is crazy! You summoned a demon! I repeat, a d-e-m-o-n. Demon!"
"Hey, keep it down!" Pacifica waves her hands as a way to keep him from yelling. "I told you already that Bill is okay. It won't be too long before you see the really bad memory problems he has. Even if he is a demon, I bet he has already forgotten that he is one!"
"Yep!"
Appearing out of nowhere, Bill places himself between Gideon and Pacifica. Gideon cries out and Pacifica flinches, the demon seemingly amused by this.
"I know everything and yet know nothing," he explains nonchalantly. "I don't want much in the long run. I think... But either way, there is nothing I want that would make me want to harm anyone. Besides~"
He flies back behind Pacifica and hugs the top of her head affectionately.
"Any friend of Paz is a friend of mine! She is the one who summoned me after all. As long as you are on her good side, there is no reason for me to be against ya!"
He continues to hug her, Pacifica clearly getting very annoyed by this and asking politely for him to stop. Which he doesn't, giggling to himself while she grows more frustrated. Gideon watches with wide eyes. Seeing a flying supernatural triangle hug his best friend's head like it is some sort of little kid...
Yeah, this is the weirdest thing he has ever seen.
"...Anyways," Pacifica finally says, trying her best to ignore Bill. "Another thing I wanted to warn you about is that there may be some sort of threat coming to town soon."
Gideon raises an eyebrow. "A threat?"
Pacifica gives a large nod, which has an enough force to make Bill let go of her. The demon playfully pouts, muttering that she is no fun, but she and Gideon ignore him.
"Yeah," Pacifica continues. "Like Bill said, he knows a lot of things, some of it being future events. Apparently these people called the Pine Twins will be here soon and will be very dangerous. I think they have another volume of these journals, as they are a threat to us by me having one of them. With Bill's help, we need to find out who they are and what their plans are, where we stop them before they can do anything bad!"
It takes a moment for Gideon to reply, as he wants nothing more than to say that this is childish and that Pacifica needs to get her head out of the clouds. Pines Twins? There are no twins in Gravity Falls, and being a small town, he practically knew everyone who lives here! However, seeing the look in her big blue eyes, and the demon floating right next to her...
He has a feeling that whether he is involved or not, Pacifica will be doing something that she shouldn't get involved with. He can see disaster coming from this, and he can't afford anything to happen to his friend.
"...Okay," Gideon finally answers. "I'll help you. But let's talk about this tomorrow so we don't have to stand here in the middle of the night."
Pacifica's eyes grow wide, looking as if surprised by Gideon's response. She gives a large smile.
"Thank you, Gideon! This means so much to me."
She gives a quick, heartfelt hug.
"I promise you won't regret this! I'll come by during one of your shows and we can talk afterwards, okay?"
Gideon nods, trying to force a smile.
"...W-what are friends for?"
He clears his throat.
"So...will ya be okay going home by yourself?"
He feels extremely uncomfortable for her to walk home alone in the middle of the night. Actually, he felt uncomfortable about himself walking home alone in the middle of the night! But Pacifica simply shakes her head and smiles.
"I'll be fine. McGucket lives on the opposite of town from where my mansion is, so it shouldn't be any problem."
She looks up at the demon.
"Plus Bill can keep an eye on us if something happens. Right, Bill?"
He nods in reply.
"Unless insects count, there will be nothing that comes between you and..."
He cuts himself off, losing his train of thought, getting distracted by a month hitting a streetlight. Pacifica rolls her eyes while Gideon groans silently. A demon, watching over him?
Great...