A/N: Oh boy, thank you all for the kind reviews! I tried making the paragraphs a bit smaller by request, but some of them may seem a bit funky because of it. My beta reader is sick so I really only asked them for help regarding things about timeline. Also, I plan on uploading another chapter soon as an apology for my lateness! My internet has been acting up a lot as well... Also, happy 1st anniversary of the finale, and happy discount chocolate day, for those of you that this still applies to, at least.
Dipper awoke to the sound of a scream. He groaned and rolled over in bed, stuffing his face in his pillow. After a few moments, realization set in that the scream had belonged to his twin.
Throwing the blankets off, Dipper practically flew out of his room and down the stairs. He took the steps three at a time, his heel missing a few steps towards the end and causing him to slide down the remaining few. He groaned and forced himself, running to the kitchen when he heard another shriek from his sister followed by the demons laughter.
"MABEL-" Dipper's face was then met with an explosion of glitter just as he made it to the doorway. He stood still for a moment before slowly shaking the glitter off like a wet dog. He rubbed the glitter out of his eyes and blinked when he saw Mabel and Bill covered in glitter and goo. Judging by their guilty looks and Bill's stance, Dipper had walked in on some unholy food fight.
"Good morning, Pine Tree!" Bill suddenly said. Dipper gave Mabel a puzzled look, and the girl burst into a fit of giggles.
"You got a little...som'thin'," Mabel gestured to her face while trying to suppress her giggles. Dipper groaned.
"What are you guys doing? The kitchen is a mess!" Dipper shook more glitter out of his hair and sneezed when some managed to get up his nose. This time both Mabel and Bill started laughing. Dipper lifted his head and put up his index finger, adding, "Don't," before either could comment about his sneeze.
"We're making food for your party!" Bill skipped over to the counter and picked up an egg. He then turned to Dipper and grinned. "Duck!"
Dipper managed to duck just as the egg whizzed over his head, but the sound of it breaking a little too close and the feeling of dust falling around him afraid to look back. Mabel's eyes had gone wide, and it was Bill's turn to hold back his laughter. Dipper slowly looked over his shoulder to see Stanford standing in a cloud of glitter.
"Well," Ford took off his glasses and blew the glitter off of them before coughing and putting his glasses back on. "I hope you children know we cannot have a party here with the kitchen being a mess." Mabel groaned dramatically and Bill pouted when he realized that meant the end of their fun morning. "Dipper," Ford said before the teen could voice his protests. "Meet me downstairs. Glitter free." He then turned and headed down the hall.
"Oooooo," Mabel said with a grinned. "You're toast." Dipper rolled his eyes.
"Mabel, please," he said.
"What, am I egging you on?"
"Mabel-"
"Don't get your panties scrambled, bro-bro." The girl broke into a fit of giggles when Dipper shot her a look. "You're just jelly you're not as funny as me!"
"How did you guys even make this big of a mess?" Dipper asked as he stood back to his full height. He didn't want to hear more bad breakfast puns. Mabel pointed dramatically at Bill, who was preoccupied with attempting to fit one of the eggs in his mouth without breaking it. He stopped with the egg mostly in his mouth when he noticed Mabel pointing.
"He started it! He assaulted me with milk. How d-dair-ry!" Mabel was barely able to finish her sentence before she burst into laughter again. Bill stared at her with a blank look before seeming to get the joke and tried, but failed, to hold back laughter. The egg broke and covered him in glitter. He must have breathed some in, because when he coughed there were puffs of glitter. Mabel looked at Bill and started laughing harder, now clutching her stomach with one hand and using the other to support herself on the counter.
Dipper sighed and rubbed his face, leaving the two so he go take a shower. He stood in the bathroom, debating if it was even worth it, but the amount of glitter on his scalp was too uncomfortable. Once he spent a good fifteen minutes of just scrubbing, he made his way to his great uncle's space.
Once down in the basement, he saw Ford gathering a few different books on a table. Dipper walked over and picked one up. "'Decoding Pictish Ruins'? Did you find something when you were out with Gruncle Stan?"
"Hmm, not quite," Ford set down another small stack of books on the table. "I found something here in Gravity Falls, actually." He picked a small black book and opened it, laying it out on the table.
"It seems to have a few different writing systems in it," Ford paused and drummed his fingers on the table top. "I've seen two of these before, but one is a complete mystery to me." Dipper leaned over the table to take a look.
"The one on the bottom...aren't those illuminati ciphers?" Dipper asked. Ford nodded. "Isn't that a bit cheesy?" Dipper grinned when he saw his uncle crack a smile.
"Though I'm not sure what the star is supposed to represent. It might be some kind of signature."
"Why don't you just ask Bill? He'll probably know these," Dipper said. He glanced up from the book when Ford didn't answer. "What?"
"You see, this one," he tapped on the single line of characters written on the edge of the page, "reminds me of the text Bill would write in my journal. Of course, we don't have those anymore." Dipper nodded slightly. They had burned all the Bill imagery and thrown the journals into the bottomless pit. "And that's not all. Look here," Ford's finger moved to a small image in the middle of a line of text.
"Is that Bill?" Dipper asked, squinting at the tiny drawing.
"It looks like it, yes." Ford sighed and leaned back. "Bill's code is scattered around in this book, save for one page where he wrote quite a bit. The illuminati one starts here, and then continues for a while before stopping completely. This mystery one is the most consistent, though there's a lot less on the pages where the other is written more." Ford crossed his arms and muttered, "Maybe it was some type of research journal?"
"So it definitely seems like more than one person writing?" Dipper stood up straight and looked at the books his uncle had gathered again. "Maybe I can stop by the library and see if I can find something to match?"
"Take Bill with you," Ford said with a nod. "He might be a bit helpful." Dipper nodded and took a picture of the page before heading back upstairs. "Oh, and Dipper." The teen stopped when Ford called to him.
"Don't tell Bill about this book."
Getting to the library took longer than Dipper expected. Bill complained about having to leave his sweater at the shack, but Mabel insisted it needed emergency cleaning. Between a number of trips back to the bathroom to get cleaned up and various other complaints, Dipper had been ready just to leave Bill behind. When Dipper mentioned going to the library, Bill's behavior shifted and the two were out in less than half an hour.
By the time Dipper and Bill had made it to the library, it was already close to three in the afternoon. It didn't take long for Bill to wander off. Dipper watched him from a distance, surprised with how well behaved he was. Once he felt Bill wouldn't cause trouble, Dipper made his way to the history section.
He picked out a few books on old runes and sat at a table. He set his phone on the table next to the books as he flipped through, checking back and forth for similarities. There were a few that had a couple of characters that matched or looked close, but he couldn't find any that had all or most of the same characters. Dipper took out a small notebook and jotted down the names and a rough copy of the alphabets that looked similar.
When Dipper had made it through the first few books, Bill made his way over to the table and sat down across from the teen. He picked up a book and looked it over.
"What's this for?" Bill asked.
"Oh, uh, I'm just looking at some old languages," Dipper replied. He quietly put his phone away while Bill was distracted with the book. "It's amazing how many different kinds there are."
"It got boring using the same ones all the time. Most of the records don't do these justice," Bill mused.
"What do you mean?"
"The languages back then were just as complex as the ones today, if not more," Bill said with an almost bored tone. He scanned the page he was on before shutting it loudly. "Back when languages were first being created here, the only things that were similar between them were a few of the symbols and sounds."
"You talk like you saw them all being made," Dipper said. Bill grinned at his disbelief. "That's crazy. You couldn't be there for all of them."
"They were all created by the same being, so yes, I could," Bill said. He leaned back in his chair after setting the book down. "How humans changed them afterwards was up to them, but the original scripts were made by the same creature."
Dipper stared at Bill for a few moments. "Were you the one…?" Bill blinked and laughed.
"Kid, I only made some of the symbols. There's more to languages than that."
"Oh," Dipper crossed his arms and looked up as he thought. "So, do you know where this grand creator is?" Bill shook his head.
"I've been trapped here for centuries, not to mention…" Dipper looked at Bill when he trailed off. He seemed distracted, and his freckles had changed to a mix of dark red and dark purple. Dipper remembered Mabel going off one day about colors and feelings, and made a mental note to get some books on color theory.
"Anyways, the languages now are all too similar," Bill said. "It would be an insult to say they were made by the same one."
An announcement was made that the library would be closing soon, so Dipper gathered up his books and checked out the ones that seemed the most useful. The way back was fairly quiet, though Dipper didn't dare ask any questions after the last incident.
Once they made it back to the Shack, Bill went off to the living room. Dipper heard the TV turn on as he made his way to the gift shop. He waved to Stan before heading down to Ford once the coast was clear. Once down, he set the books down on the table, careful to not disturb the papers that his uncle had scattered around. Ford grunted an acknowledgment.
"So, find anything interesting yet?" Dipper asked.
"It's fascinating," he said. "Most of it is records of different worlds and it's inhabitants." Ford leaned back and rubbed his chin. "There's quite a bit written about Bill, as well as someone named Gad." Dipper blinked.
"Have you ever heard of them before?" Dipper asked. Ford shook his head.
"No, never. Not even in the Nightmare Realm." Ford sighed. "What's more, the author seems to comment on the other text on the same page."
"So they understood the other language, but they still used different symbols?" Dipper asked. "Why?" Ford shrugged.
"I don't know. Perhaps to keep information from getting out as easily? Though, that's not the most concerning part," Ford's tone lowered as he went on. "Bill mentioned to me before about destroying his dimension, but with the way this author writes about it, Bill was really shaken up about it." Dipper's eye's went wide.
"Wait, he actually destroyed his entire dimension?!" Dipper had to sit on floor as he thought this over. Not only were they housing a demon who tried to destroy their world, but he had successfully destroyed his own dimension, and Ford knew this!
"Dipper, he doesn't have access to his magic. He's even less powerful than when I first summoned him," Ford said as he stood. "In fact, he's powerless."
Dipper shook his head slightly, though the movement made him dizzy. Swallowing felt foreign and made his ears ring. Pressure on his back made him jump, but he relaxed when he realized it was just Ford.
"Calm down, Dipper. He can't hurt us," Ford said gently.
"Y-yeah...right," Dipper closed his eyes and tried to focus on his breathing. The last thing he wanted was to break down in front of his uncle. After a few moments, Ford stood up again.
"The last entry in this code is what confuses me the most," Ford said. Dipper looked up at him with a puzzled look.
"'It's a nice day for a picnic'."
A/N: picture to go with the code(remove space): sta. sh/08b983slj2t
