And the numbers keep increasing ;-; thank you all! This chapter may be a bit more on the sad side though. You can interpret it however you'd like.
Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls.
Mabel went around the green tree several times, and even climbed up its thick branches.
"Bill?" She called while hanging upside down on the branch, but received no answer. She already searched through the decimated area more than once. Although, there wasn't much place to hide other than the lone tree in the center.
"Come on, Bill! I know you're here somewhere!" She called again.
The young girl frowned at his disappearance, she was sure that he'd still be too hurt to move away. She had already accepted that the one-eyed blonde grew on her rather quickly. There was a sinking feeling in her chest as she noticed he hadn't even said goodbye. Waddles oinked at her and she jumped down to scratch his chin.
"I don't know where he is either, Waddles." She told him sadly. She realized that he wouldn't be popping up out of anywhere to scare her as a big joke, or appear from thin air to tease her about missing him. With a final scan around the area, she left with her head down.
As she dragged her feet along the forest, she failed to notice that she was going somewhere new. Her pet pig oinked at her and tugged at her socks frantically, but she didn't bother to stop for him. Suddenly, Mabel tripped on her feet and tumbled down a grassy hillside. She let out small noises of pain and discomfort as she rolled down. Finally, the brunette landed on her back, and stared up at the cloudy sky.
She laid there for a moment, before sitting up to look around. Her sense of urgency kicked in when she didn't recognize her surroundings. The trees weren't pine, and there were a variety of mushrooms sprouting from the ground. The entire area seemed a bit too sparkly...
The female brunette saw a pair of curious eyes peer from the shadows of the trees. Soon, it became two, then four, then more than she could count. Mabel could hear them arguing quietly. She braced herself as she saw many short arms push a single figure out into the light. Yet, it was a very small man with a grey beard and a pointy red hat, with two teeth to show. It reminded her of something, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
He went over to her and tilted his head curiously. She couldn't help but coo at his cuteness. Reaching out to shake his tinier hand, the small man stared at her hand until it was close enough. He abruptly opened his mouth and bit down on the side of her palm.
Pain bloomed throughout her hand as she yelped in surprise. Mabel flung her arm up and down hysterically while yelling, "Let go!"
She randomly ran around, smashing the little male on the different objects of the forest. The other pairs of eyes were darting back and forth as his bite was relentless. Fortunately for her, he let go after using her other hand to rip him off. The female winced at the bite mark with visible small dots of blood.
"Shmebulock!" The little creature yelled before scampering back inside the bushes.
As she examined and gently held her hurt hand, more small males came out from hiding. There was one that stood out in front, who was clapping profusely. "Come on guys, let's give her a hand!"
Mabel stared at them in confusion as they applauded, her hand momentarily forgotten. She finally realized, was she looking at… gnomes? "Lemme tell you, you're one heck of a riot! And a very pretty one at that. The name's Jeff, toots, but you can call me your husband."
He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, but another gnome asked, "Isn't she the queen for all of us?"
"Ugh, Steve, no one asked." Jeff groaned. Yet, Steve only furrowed his eyebrows. "But I asked."
"Then let me rephrase that, no one cares."
Another voice piped up, "I actually kind of care."
"Yeah, me too!"
"Same here."
"Look! Can you all back up a bit? I was trying to put on my sweet moves, but thanks to you she's running away!" There was a brief pause, then, "HEY! Our queen's running away!"
As Mabel fled as quick as she could while they were distracted, a series of thoughts ran through her head. She had just met actual live gnomes, and they wanted her to be their queen! Why must it be today out of all days? And where was Waddles?! She ignored the tinier notion that Bill and Jeff's voices were oddly alike, and kept running.
"You will be our queen!" Jeff's voice boomed and suddenly it was harder to run when her feet kept bouncing off the ground. She looked back and nearly screamed at the giant gnome cluster that chased after her.
"MABEL!" The female brunette turned her head to the source of her brother's voice. He had Ford's journal in his hand, the same one that was given to him on their first day coming here. Waddles was in front of him as he skimmed through the pages.
"Aha!" He pointed his finger down at the page where it had information about the gnomes.
"You better think of something quick, bro-bro! I don't wanna find out how to pay for insurance when you're married to gnomes!" Ignoring her strange quip, he quickly read the weaknesses section of the page. His eyes widened when he found none. Suddenly, his sister was pulling him along as Waddles hurried beside them. They all ended up running with fear for their lives.
"There's the shack!" Mabel yelled. But just as they got close enough, Dipper was caught by his foot. The cluster held him up high as his twin yelled, "Give him back, you buttface!"
"Stop fighting it, girly. You're our queen now! Unless, you don't want this guy back." Her brother was waved tauntingly above her and he tried not to be nauseated. Mabel squeezed her lips together but then released a sigh, "Alright, Jeff. You win. Let him go and I'll come with you."
Dipper was in disbelief of what she was saying, how could she let herself go so easily? He was roughly dropped to the ground as his sister ran over to check him. Just as he was about to argue with his sibling, he saw her give a subtle wink.
"Now, hop on! This is a one way ticket to gnome kingdom, and with no guaranteed return!" A hand dropped down for her to climb on, but she said, "First, let me go get my wedding gift for you! But it's only for you, so come down here!"
Jeff smiled with appreciation, "A wedding gift? Aw, you shouldn't have!"
Mabel skipped away to get her 'gift' as Jeff waited on the ground patiently. Dipper awkwardly coughed into his fist as he sat next to the giant gnome cluster. Suddenly, his sister bursted out the door with a machine in her hand. It had flips and switches with a long tube at the front.
"Look! Isn't this neat? Has a lot of, um, complicated parts to it!" She said with too much exaggeration, and Dipper slapped a hand to his face.
"Ooh, I like complicated parts!" Jeff replied flirtily and came closer to the device she was holding. Before he could react, she flipped a switch and he was sucked into the tube.
"HA! Be eaten by my leaf blower, Jeff!" She exclaimed, and Dipper quickly ran to her side as she pointed it threateningly at the cluster. The commander gnome couldn't speak since he was constricted by the tube, leaving the giant gnome formation confused as to what to do.
"Would you like to do the honors?" Mabel gestured to her brother. He smiled evilly, "With pleasure."
With another flick of a switch, Jeff was fired across the land and out of sight. Without a leader, the gnomes scattered around back into the forest. The twins laughed and high fived each other at their success.
"That was awesome, Mabel! We'll have to tell the Grunkles about that one!"
She nodded excitedly and they raced back inside. Her brother was continuously asking her questions until one stopped their joyful conversing, "How did you get there in the first place?"
"Oh, I went there on accident. I was walking around while not paying attention because I was all sad and stuff! And I was sad because…"
Her voice trailed off there. She had her head down again as she remembered her reason why. Dipper waited for her to go on but started to worry when she couldn't finish her sentence.
"Because…"
"Hey, it's okay." He put a hand to her shoulder reassuringly, "We can tell each other anything, remember?"
The female brunette looked up, and her brother was surprised to see tears brimming in her eyes. "Bill hadn't even said goodbye…"
She wiped her eyes with her sleeve as the male rubbed a comforting hand on her back, figuring out what happened. He didn't know exactly what to say. There was a part of him that actually felt pretty okay with the dream-demon. Another part of him predicted that the dream-demon would end up hurting his sister, but not like this. Then there was that other part that was itching to walk out and find the blonde so he could rip him apart limb from limb.
"But," She spoke again, "I'll be waiting for him to return. He'll have to someday!"
She looked happier now, as if that single thought of him coming back would be true. And maybe it would, Dipper thought to himself. He just smiled at her and said, "I'm sure he will."
Bill sighed contently to himself as he floated throughout the dreary dimension. He was finally freed from that wretched pain on his side! He did flips and turns to stretch out his young body. But then, he had stumbled upon the murmuring of grumbled and distorted noises.
To any other creature, the talking between monsters and demons would sound like a garbled mess. But Bill understood it perfectly. He barged in theatrically and said, "Hey! It's good to see you guys again!"
The three monsters and single demon made sounds of annoyance. Bill Cipher was ready to come back to their dimension once more.
"I know you missed me! Admit it, you missed me!"
The blonde poked the fleshy fat of one of the monsters. But his arm was abruptly grabbed and he was hoisted in front of the demon's face.
"What games are you playing here, boy? You shouldn't even been able to move with the burn I did on you!"
The blonde wiped the spit that flew on his face with disgust. Bill gave him a cheshire grin before pulling his arm out of the hold. "Oh, I made a bit of a deal and got myself out of that problem."
The dream-demon made the impression of examining his nails even though he was wearing black gloves. One of the monsters asked, "Why would anyone make a deal with you?"
"I have my ways," The blonde winked, but to them it seemed like a forced blink. He kept repeating the same action as the others stared at him in confusion.
"What are you doing?" Another one asked.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Bad response.
"Well, it's more like you're trying to get something out of your eye."
"Or you're waiting for someone to laugh at a really bad joke."
"He probably is."
Bill had enough of this, "I was winking! It was a wink, you fools!"
No one seemed to care. He rolled his eye and made a turn to leave before things became violent. But he was grabbed by his collar and the other demon grinned, "Whoa there, we have to make up for all the pain you were supposed to feel, right boys?"
There was cheering and whooping, while Bill masked his fear with confidence. He laughed and said, "Right, right. Well please, let me begin!"
He punched the demon in the eye, causing a momentary shock. He flew away as fast as he could while they started to chase after him. He glanced behind briefly and saw the outstretched wings that the demon was using.
"Get back here! We were just gonna have some fun! You like fun don't you?!"
Bill found a spot to hide and took it. He heard them surveying the area as they looked for him. He could feel the tension growing in his abdomen as they took their time to look through the area. It was as if they were taunting him about him not being able to escape their clutches.
"What are you doing?" The sounds suddenly stopped and Bill felt his breath hitch. Everyone recognized that chilling voice. There was a new demon that walked in, and the creatures that were searching waved him off dismissively.
"Nothin', nothin' at all! Let's get out of here, guys!" They made a hasty escape and left the newcomer by himself. Bill was sure he would die today when he heard, "Pathetic, Cipher. Just absolutely pathetic."
But then the dream-demon felt the petrifying presence of the other demon vanish. The blonde sighed in relief and scrambled out of his hiding spot. Suddenly, he bumped into a figure behind him as he was climbing out.
The demon went by many titles, but he preferred to go by Adrian. He had a middle and last name that he only used when he walked amongst the humans. Unlike the many other monsters and demons, he still had memories of being human. Perhaps he used his old human name for twisted pleasure.
Another thing was that he could manifest the appearance of a human for a very long time, yet older than what Bill looked like. He had a permanent welcoming smile plastered on his face below his violet eyes, and every action he made was graceful. He wore a black tuxedo with a fedora, and had an aura of cold death.
Being able to draw out his true form, however, meant that death wouldn't even seem as bad.
Bill tried to think of a good remark or greeting but found his words caught in his throat. Adrian only put a hand to his shoulder while keeping up his signature smile. "Still holding your award for worst demon ever, hm?"
Adrian playfully smacked his shoulder and said, "Come on, Cipher. Where's your bloodlust or psychopath ideas? Instead of giving away your wound to the kid, why didn't you replace his eyes with heads that are always screaming?"
Bill forced a chuckle and said, "Duly noted."
"Say, those Pines twins are quite something." Adrian started off smoothly, and the blonde asked, "The Stans? Oh yeah, but mostly annoying and—"
Bill stopped talking when the other demon was waving his hand around and said, "No, not them, I meant the younger pair. Their souls are very… unique, at most. I don't think I expect anymore than a few surprises here and there."
So it seemed he wasn't the only one who noticed Pine Tree and Shooting Star's peculiar souls. Suddenly, Adrian went closer to him and continued, "I hope that the reason you chose not to kill them as soon as you met the two was because their souls were very interesting to you."
Bill could see the light purple strands of hair that stuck out of his fedora. Adrian's eyes were searching his own black ones. "Of course, of course! But it's not as interesting as it seems, so I have no reason to see them anymore!"
Adrian backed off and flashed him his permanent smile, "Good."
With that, he left. Bill felt all of his anxiety wash away. But then realized, he wouldn't be able to see those twin brats anymore without a good reason. His frown grew when he thought about Shooting Star, before slapping himself.
"What do I have to be sad about? Mere mortals can't hold me down!" He shouted to no one in particular, before wandering the Nightmare Realm once again.
Four months.
It's been four months since Mabel had last seen the dream-demon. She's only heard of him causing a few unfortunate happenings to some of the citizens in Gravity Falls. Yet, not once had she caught a glance of his top hat or his fluttering coat tails.
There was also a news report on Gideon Gleeful. He was said to have a nasty burn on his side that left him immobile. He didn't perform at any shows because he was stuck in his room. Although, the reason why he had the injury was unknown.
Her friends had been busy with the Soul Fighters academy. They had been focusing on keeping up with the steady progression of the other students. Candy and Grenda just finished a stressful final exam for their classes, and decided to rest for today.
Her brother was now very skilled in defensive style, nearly perfect. It was surprising since he had learned so well in such a short time when compared to the average time needed. He had yet to beat their great uncle in a chess game even though there were a few instances he nearly won. But his spirits were high as always, and he still had the same remarkable determination to be a great Soul Fighter.
Their thirteenth birthday started off wonderful and they threw a grand party at the shack. But, at the end of the day, Dipper and Mabel sat by themselves solemnly. Nostalgia ran through their veins while they remembered their old town. They couldn't help but reminisce the cheerful voices of their parents and the gifts that they were given.
Right now, her brother was outside in the cold winter air. Somewhere deep in the forest, he was now focusing on summoning his weapon. She rested her head in her arms and looked out the window as she awaited his return. Even with the rolling grey clouds, it was a very special day today.
She was taken aback when a white crystallized drop appeared on the window in front of her. She examined it closely, but more followed after it. Her jaw dropped as she realized, it was snowing!
Unfortunately, her Grunkle Ford was out; he had to showcase his invention to the officials. It had put her in a dejected mood, but this new sight had lit up her face immediately. Grunkle Stan rushed out as he heard his niece squeal joyfully. He sat next to her as they watched a layer of white fluff cover the ground. They both hoped Dipper would return soon to share the day with them.
Speaking of which, the boy was very pleasantly surprised to find himself surrounded by the flurries of snow. There was never snow where he and Mabel were from. Even though he was in awe of the small ice crystals, he shivered as a brief cold front passed through him.
His hat had gained a thin sheet of snow as he walked back towards the shack. But as he was passing by the series of pine trees, he saw someone else standing alone by themself. He snuck closer and saw the back of a purple trenchcoat covered by long blonde hair.
Pacifica turned her head around to look at him, but went back to gazing at something else. Dipper crept closer out of curiosity, and saw a male and female deer. They were looking back at them innocently before prancing away together.
The blonde had the bottom half of her face snuggled in a comfy purple scarf, but the brunette was wearing a loose grey shirt with black short sleeves and black pants. She noticed he was developing a lean build and had several small bruises and scratches. It caused her to wonder to herself. He really was working towards his Soul Fighter goal.
"I still think you should stop." Pacifica suggested, and Dipper frowned. Was she really going to bring this up now? She continued, "Don't try to play the hero, standing back and believing in the others can be just as good."
"No, it isn't. I'm not going to stand back and watch other people fight for me when I could be doing it myself." He replied firmly. They refused to look at each other as they spoke in the falling snow. "I know if I work really hard, I can be a great Soul Fighter, Pacifica. Not everyone can be born with an aptitude for it."
"You'll just end up dying, your family will be sad, and your sister will be crushed." She told him brutally, and the male felt himself growing angrier, "Do you want to put that kind of burden on them?"
He replied harshly, and couldn't stop himself from adding offensive remarks to his original response, "I won't die. Why can't you just accept the fact that I am doing this? Is it because I decided not to go to your stupid academy? Or is it because I won't quiver in fear every time your name is even mentioned? You don't even care about the kind of impression you leave on people, or even your own students! How arrogant and selfish can you be? Honestly, you're the worst!"
His final words were finished loudly, and heavy silence came after. They stood still watching as the area became covered in snowflakes. He couldn't muster up the guts to escape and stayed freezing next to her. The brunette could see their breathing come out in small white wispy clouds.
The tension was long enough for Dipper to start regretting his outrage. Perhaps I took it too far, he thought guiltily. How could he be so mean on a day like this? His mouth was dry along with the rest of his body. Gulping nervously, he croaked out, "I'm sorry."
"For what?" The headmistress responded softly, "You have all the right to be mad at me."
She couldn't be a public supporter of his resolve. Even though she was expecting him to achieve extraordinary feats, there was still a high chance for him to fail. Not everyone can just learn on their own with their relatives, they needed schooling. Yet, Dipper was a special case. She looked forward to fighting alongside him one day.
There was another moment of pregnant silence before he asked, "Why are you out here by yourself?"
"I'm avoiding my parents," She bluntly stated. Despite the fact he didn't really understand her situation, he nodded sympathetically. "I always think that they are terrible people, but I guess I'm just as bad."
Pacifica turned to face him and Dipper saw the sorrow hidden behind her blonde bangs. "You're lucky to have a family like them, Dipper. You should go spend time with them while you can."
She unwrapped the scarf around her neck and handed it to the shivering boy. He took it warily with a questioning look on his face. She shrugged and said, "You wouldn't want to go home with hypothermia. That would ruin the whole point of spending time with your family."
He carefully wrapped the purple scarf around his neck and was instantly comforted with the leftover warmth. It smelled of vanilla and lavender. He stifled a blissful smile to not seem creepy.
"Merry Christmas." She let out a small, melancholic smile. He flashed the same one back at her, "Merry Christmas."
They parted ways with a newfound respect between them, even if it was just a seed.
Out of all the holidays to ever exist, he'd hate Christmas the most.
Gideon laid against a big fluffy pillow and was under thick, soft blanket. His amulet was off of his body and in the drawer on his bedside. On top of the beside was hot chocolate that was placed for him to drink.
"As if I could reach it," The child grumbled to himself. The burn had healed quite a lot, but the pain was still excruciating. Everyday since the deal he made with the dream-demon, it was applied with creams and ointments. He had to take a lot of pain killers to numb only some of the full effect. To his surprise, there was a knocking at his door.
"Come in."
His eyes widened before narrowing so much it seemed as though his eyes were closed.
"Get out."
Bud Gleeful stood at the doorway. He nearly did as his son ordered, but decided to push forth. Gideon hissed at him in his southern drawl, "What d'you think you're doin' here?"
His father stopped as the side of his bed and kneeled down. "I just wanted to greet ma' son "Merry Christmas" today."
"D'you think there's anythin' merry about today? I'm stuck in this stupid bed when I could've been commencing with important things!" Bud let his son yell at his face, while giving him a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry this happened ta' you, son. But how?"
"Does it really matter? And don't call me that! I ain't your son! Just get outta here already!" Gideon screamed as he pointed to the door with little strength. Bud swallowed any other things he wanted to say. He pulled his fancy white hat off his head and put it to his chest. After bowing, he left without any words.
If he could, the child would have been throwing a fit. But he was stuck in his bed with the pain biting his flesh. There were a lot of things he hated about this world, like Stanford and Soul Fighters. But his father would be at the top.
Ah yes, time skip! Well not by a whoooole lot but yea. Dipper doesn't know what soul weapon he has or how to summon it. Also, Pacifica doesn't hate Dipper, she just kind of needs to hate what hes doing. And let's just say Gideon will need more time before he can move. Poor Bud.
New villain introduced, can you guess who it is?
Until next time!
