Acacia skidded to a stop in a three point landing, shoes kicking up dust and with the bow Aunt Candy had given her ready in her free hand and her brass knuckles ready on her supporting hand.
Her assigned sheep, Killer and Darcrack, skidded to a stop beside her, alert and on edge, teeth bared. Killer's short wings were flared, and Darcrack's barbed tail was poised and ready.
After a few moments the trio relaxed a touch, straightening from their defensive crouches.
"...okay," Acacia said, hefting the bow she'd picked earlier. It had taken a long time to get used to using one with only one eye, but Pines stubbornness won out in the end. "So that happened. Who votes we find as many bits of Uncle Dipper as we can and drag them back to the Shack so we can make him apologize for scaring us and make him talk it out?"
The two nightmares baaed with glee, rearing up a little and kicking their front legs, Killer flapping her tiny wings and Darcrack lashing his tail in approval.
"All right then," Acacia said, projecting cheerfulness and confidence as hard as she could. "Let's go then – either one of you have a lead?"
Killer and Darcrack lowered their heads together, conferring quietly. Finally, just when Acacia was starting to really get impatient, waiting with crossed arms and tapping foot, they raised their heads to look at her somberly.
"We can sen͡se ̶o̕n͞e, poss̸ib͟ļy t͟wo͞," Killer said. "B̧u̢t̡ t͟he̕y̧ ̧a͘re̶ n̶o̶t̡ ̕f͡r̷i͜e͠nd̸ly pa͠rt҉s̢ ǫf yo͡ur̶ un̵c̛le, our M̶ast̷er. ͘Th̢e͜y ̴ar͝e ̡dangȩrou͠s."
Acacia scowled, squaring her shoulders. "Uncle Dipper can't recover unless we find all the pieces, though, right?"
Obviously reluctant, Killer and Darcrack agreed that that was, in fact, the case.
"Then we got find all the pieces," Acacia said firmly. "Come on, let's get moving. What're you so scared of? We're some of the scariest things around here."
"Not ás͠ ́s͝c̨ar͜y͠ a͏s ̧t͡h̡e̡ ͜Ma͏steŕ m̴ìg͜ht ̸b͝e͜..." Killer whispered, scuffing a hoof against the leaves underfoot, Darcrack nodding agreement beside the tiny, normally fearless nightmare.
Acacia shot a grin at the nightmares over her shoulder. "Anybody tell you about the time Uncle Dipper scared the shit out of me? I've got him back since but man, does he still feel so guilty..."
Ears pricking forward, the nightmares trotted up to flank their human.
"Bu̡t̛ th̵e M͡a͜s͜t͝e͢r̡ c͞ar̀es͝ ábo̸ut ́y͢o͡u͜ a͢n̵d ̴y̕o̸ur ̶s͢ib̡li͞n̷g͝s͢ ͡m̸or̶e̛ ͘than̶ a̛n͘yt́hi͢n̸ģ," Killer said, and Acacia laughed again, less forced than before.
"Yeah, but he still screws up. Okay, so were were five, okay? And this cultist decides to come visit..."
The three continued to tell stories as they walked, distracting each other from the forest they were walking through. Not that they were truly distracted, as all three were still on alert for anything that might come at them, but it helped to keep them from letting their fears get the better of them.
Acacia was also trying to keep a hold on her temper, and she was mostly succeeding, but oh, part of her was so, so angry with her uncle right now. He tried so hard to protect them, and this was what happened, because he refused to tell them just how much he was hurting!
A little voice tried to remind her of all the times Acacia did the same thing, to try and keep from worrying her family, or when her sister did the same, but fear, of the situation and for her family and most of all for her uncle, who was hurting so badly he had torn himself apart because of it, fed the anger and drowned out the reasonable voice.
The trio heard cheering off in the distance and changed their direction to follow the sound. Cheering meant something, at least, and activity of that level here probably meant Uncle Dipper.
Or part of him, at least.
"This where you sense Uncle Dipper?" Acacia asked softly as they approached the edge of the trees.
The nightmares nodded, silently.
All three came to an abrupt stop as they exited the forest, struck dumb by the sight in front of them.
Gravity Falls had some odd architecture, to say the least. The Mystery Shack turned Library was up there on the list, but even so, alongside the normal buildings were some pretty odd things built over the years.
Despite all of that, there had never been a Roman style coliseum before, no matter how weird Gravity Falls had gotten.
Acacia was a little surprised by that, in retrospect. They had held weekly or bi-weekly Demon Sheep Rallies that were just as intense at times, sometimes even more intense, as Monster Truck Rallies...so why hadn't they ever made something to contain that, rather than converting the old pit from some demon battle her uncle had fought before she and her siblings had been born?
Still, that didn't matter now. What mattered was, there was a huge Roman style coliseum in the middle of the Gravity Falls woods, and why the hell was there a Roman style coliseum in the middle of the freaking woods?
Still at the edge of the woods, Acacia glanced down at the nightmares. It was barely a flicker of her eyes, unwilling to take her gaze off the incongruous coliseum any longer than she had to.
"Let me guess – in there," she said. The sheep baa-ed a little, shifting their weight and nodding, almost as if ashamed that the answer was yes. "Of course he is. Ugh. Uncle Dipper, why can't anything ever be easy?"
The nightmares baa-ed nervously, laughing at Acacia's exaggerated disgust but too nervous to let go enough to laugh properly.
"Come on," Acacia said, feeling the first stirrings of anger that wasn't born solely of worry. What the hell was her Uncle doing in that thing? Why wasn't he out here, trying to get back together and talk to everyone? If he was just lounging around in there, they were going to have problems!
Dammit, they were all stronger than this! He was supposed to be stronger than this!
Scowling, Acacia unslung her bow from over her shoulder where she'd stored it while walking, pulling out an arrow. She tapped the pockets she'd sewn into her suit, making sure her spare brass knuckles were ready and the knives she'd slipped into hidden holsters were loose enough to be drawn at a moment's notice.
Nocking the arrow on the bowstring but not yet drawing it, Acacia nodded to her nightmares, who flared wings and tail. "Okay. Let's do this."
The cheering grew louder the closer they came to the coliseum's arena proper, though the crowds making the noise had yet to appear.
Acacia kept her bow ready, the nightmares keeping careful pace beside her, all three on edge for the threat they knew was coming.
The cheers was louder yet as they entered the shadowed tunnel entrance that led into the main arena. It was long, and dark, with the echoes of the cheering and chanting rebounding off the stone until it was a raucous cacophony, no words discernible in the wave of sound.
What they could understand of the roaring was eager for bloodshed and fighting.
The three of them edged closer to the light streaming into the end of the tunnel.
Still cautious, though it chafed at them all to be so cautious and not go screaming into battle, they paused at the edge of the light and peered into the coliseum.
The roaring said that the bleachers around the sand covered arena should have been full, and they were, but something was wrong about the crowds.
Acacia squinted against the light, and suddenly it clicked.
Every single person in the audience was her Uncle Dipper. "Are those all facets?" she hissed out of the corner of her mouth at Killer, who edged up closer to her side to see.
"No̷," she hissed back, and when a nightmare hissed, there was no other word for the sound, so unlike a human's attempt. "B͞ut ̨t̛h̕e ǫn͘e in͜ ̢th͘e bòx̀ s̢èat ͠įs.̸ ̀T͡he̷ ̕res̀t a̛r̨e͝ ̧il̢lu̶si̡o̴ns̡, p͢a͠rt o̷f͠ ͜th̢at͠ o̶n͢e ̕f̷a̛cet.̕"
"...so we drag that one out of here, and the rest'll disappear?" Acacia whispered back, looking around the arena cautiously.
"It'́ś as s̷o͝un͟d a̕ t͟heo̢r̶y a̢s͝ àn̴ỳ,͝" Darcrack said as quietly as possible for a nightmare whose voice could rival a full blown demon's, tail still held at the ready and pressed close to his herd mate. "I c̡an͠ńo̡t ̶śée̴, ͏wha̸t ͡i͠s̢ f͘i͠ght҉i͢n̸g̵ ̴in ̛th͢e̕r͜e͜?"
Acacia took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She'd been avoiding looking into the arena proper, knowing she was probably going to get angry as soon as she did.
Bracing herself against the tunnel wall, Acacia edged her way even closer to the light. Once she was by the edge, she took another deep breath, reminded herself to stay calm, and slowly leaned around to peek into the coliseum.
Although outside the coliseum it was grey and cloudy, inside it was blindingly bright, sun reflecting off the sand like the beach at noon on a summer's day.
The stands were filled with Uncle Dipper, but from this angle they looked less solid than they had from farther away, faintly transparent and unreal.
The sand was bloody, with the sharp copper tang that was hard to ignore hanging in the air, and in this place it was hard to tell if it was real or illusion.
Two creatures were fighting, monsters like the ones that had been roaming the town proper, in the center of the arena. Blood flew as they clashed, teeth and claws scrabbling for a hold on the other, hooves digging into the sand as they battled for dominance, wounds streaming a blackish blood as they tore into each other, staining the sand of the arena.
Across the arena, Acacia spotted the box seat Killer had mentioned. In it she could make out her uncle, solid as she was. He was seated comfortably in the shade, eyes fastened on the fight down below.
Even from this distance she could see the intentness of his gaze, the way his forked tongue (which he usually kept human shaped, so its presence said a lot about her uncle's state of mind) would flicker out and run along his lips hungrily. His claws had left gouges on the balcony of the box set, though at the moment one hand rested lightly on the arm of his chair while his other elbow was braced on the opposite arm, chin propped on his upraised fist.
In the shadow of the box seat, Acacia could see her uncle's eyes glowing. He looked, to Acacia's expert eye, to be smug, satisfied, and thoroughly enjoying himself and the bloodshed that was being caused for his entertainment.
He...he was...enjoying this? What...okay. Right. Acacia knew her uncle had aspects of himself he tried to hide from them, mostly because of how so many of those parts of himself were linked to being a demon, but he didn't always do the best job of it. She knew that, she knew he enjoyed bloodshed and violence more than a normal Pines.
And she knew she should be sympathetic, that something terrible had to have happened to make him react like this. That he never would have willingly put them in danger just to sit around and watch blood and pain and death. That something was wrong.
But damn it, they were all scared, and no one knew what was going on, and he was sitting here in an arena watching monsters fight for his amusement!
Infuriated, Acacia stormed out into the arena as the one of the monsters slashed through the other creature's throat in a lucky strike. Blood sprayed across the arena, surprisingly red from the death wound for the nightmarish creature that it had come from, with the same coppery tang to the air of human blood.
It soaked into the already tainted sand, sand that crunched under Acacia's furious feet as she strode into the arena.
The body of the dying creature was dissolving, the particles shifting into the sand and caking Acacia's shoes as she stormed through the last of it.
The surviving creature backed away, head down and to the side, steadfastly not looking at the woman. It pressed itself against the wall of the arena, legs shaking and panting.
Acacia had the arrow shot before she could second guess herself, temper taking the reins and knowing as she shot that her uncle would dodge it easily, but it would get his attention.
And it did, and he did, ducking just before the arrow struck, the arrow hitting the wall behind where her uncle's head had been only a split second before with a solid thunk, sinking deeply into the wood.
Slowly her uncle straightened, unnaturally slow and quiet.
The two stared at each other, Acacia fuming, Dipper silent and cold and inhuman.
The look in his eyes reminded Acacia of the few times her uncle had lost himself around them, given in to the demon and its hungers for one reason or another, and hoped like hell even through the anger that he could still recognize who she was.
The silence between them stretched, long and tense as a wire ready to snap, and someone was going to end up bleeding in some way from the recoil when it did.
Acacia was the one who finally broke the standoff, her temper unable to handle any more. "Uncle Dipper, what the hell?"
He leaned on the railing, elbows braced on the stone and wrists carelessly crossed, one leg tossed equally carelessly in front of the other. "Whatever do you mean, Pole Star? This is my mindscape, I'm just..." he gestured, gracefully, more gracefully than her dork of an uncle usually managed unless he was halfway to full demon, and a wisp of smoke rose from that gesturing hand. "...playing with it."
"We're all here too, and we need out," Acacia snarled, "And you're here, just, just...killing things! What the HELL, Uncle Dipper? Since when is 'killing things' playing? What part of him even are you?"
The look she received was blank, and cold, and even under the fire of her temper Acacia felt a chill. It was so inhuman, so...not Uncle Dipper.
"I'm not ready to be done," he said bluntly. "I'm not satisfied yet. Go home, child. This is no place for you."
If Acacia had been angry before, she was blindingly furious now. She slipped her bow over her shoulder, slipping a knife out of the sheath under her skirt.
"Uncle Dipper, I am not a child," she ground out through gritted teeth. "And you are stopping this nonsense and coming home with me. What are you, bloodlust or hunger or something?"
Dipper's aspect smiled at her coldly, the light glinting off the teeth that Acacia had never feared before now. Not until now, when he was still so hungry for blood, and she wasn't entirely sure that he knew who she was, nickname or not, wasn't entirely sure if he'd recognize her when the blood flowed.
"And will you force me, then?" he asked, an edge to his voice.
Acacia's grip tightened on the knife, around her brass knuckles. "If I have to," she snarled.
The aspect of her uncle smiled wider, eyes glinting. "So be it."
His form flickered, and in a flash he was there, in front of Acacia. He lunged, claws going wide, but still far too close for comfort.
Blinded by anger, Acacia swung back, hearing her uncle's aspect grunt and the shock traveling up her arm as she managed to land the blow.
Something roared, and Acacia dodged as two of the creatures that her uncle had been watching fight barreled past her, She wasn't quite fast enough, gaining a cut on her blind side from spikes.
Over the rage and the blood pounding in her ears she could hear Killer and Darcrack baaing frantically, unsure of what to do.
Did they aid an aspect of their master, or one of the children he loved more than anything?
Killer made the decision for them, charging into battle first as was her wont, and taking down the creature aiming for Acacia.
Darcrack meanwhile planted himself between Dipper and Acacia. His growl would make lesser demons hesitate, and even this aspect of Dipper was eying him warily.
It seemed that, when it came down to it, they decided that their master would prefer they fight him than they stand by and let him hurt his niece.
Darcrack and the aspect stared each other down, Dipper's claws twitching a need to draw more blood, fill his mouth with flesh, fighting against the love and loyalty of Family and Flock.
Meanwhile Acacia swung, over and over again, dancing and dodging the two creatures that had decided to target her.
Whether or not her uncle's aspect would have attacked her again, if he was trying to actually attack or was simply sparring, she couldn't say, and she didn't want to think about it. She couldn't think about it at the moment, as thinking about it was a distraction, and she couldn't afford that right now.
Some small part of her mind knew she wasn't blocking every attack, knew that there was blood streaming down her arms, making her grip on her knife slick and treacherous.
But the rush of blood was hot in her head, rushing through her body, and this was what it meant to live. She cut down one creature, felt it back off, and instead of feeling sorry she had hurt it just felt the rush of elation of a well struck blow.
Strike, kick, parry, feel a blow connect, and with the ferocity of her anger was the desire to make these things hurt, make them bleed, and there was no thought involved anymore.
There was nothing but her, and the sweet rush of blood, and the fight, and it was good.
Then her foot slipped in the sand and blood, sending her down to the floor of the arena, only just catching herself with one hand, scalding it on the burning sand.
She blocked the blow the creature sent at her but missed the second, crying out in pain as it connected.
Something was roaring, something demonic, Killer or Darcrack or Uncle Dipper, but her name was mixed in with the static and distortion.
The blow had knocked her over and the creature leaned over her, its breath in her face, opening a mouth that kept opening, wider and wider, filled with row after row of thin, needlelike teeth.
Acacia never wanted to admit to it, but the scream she let out was more fear than anger.
Then something hit the creature's side, something that sent it flying across the arena.
Acacia rolled over and scrambled to her feet, using Darcrack to help drag herself upwards. The huge nightmare stood solid as rock, uncomplaining as she yanked on his wool to help her stand.
The creature Killer had been facing was limping towards them, injured badly but still standing. It was slow now, Killer having dealt a great deal of damage in her protective anger.
The creature that had seconds ago been threatening Acacia was trying to defend itself against the tiny nightmare, but this time she had her Master's backup, and he was tearing the creature apart.
Acacia had a strong stomach and had seen a great deal of violence in her time in the Pines family business, but even she had to turn away from the carnage.
Darcrack was silent, as he usually was, a fact Acacia was grateful for. The sounds changed as the first creature finally was allowed to die and the second was attacked by nightmare and aspect.
Maybe it was weak of her, but for once, Acacia didn't look. The sounds were enough.
She looked up with the noises finally stopped, still furious but not blindingly so anymore, not now that she'd remembered the rush of the fight herself, and understood a little more what this aspect of her uncle had been feeling. Not much, but a little
The aspect of Dipper hovered between the two monsters he'd just ripped to shreds, toes brushing the blood soaked sand. His shoulders shook, harsh breaths ringing out over the suddenly silent arena. The crowds in the stands began to flicker and disappear as Dipper raised his hands, looking at them blindly, flexing the razor sharp claws that had torn through nightmare flesh with such ease, and it had felt so good to rip and tear and rend and see the blood fly...
"You're right, I am your uncle's bloodlust," he said quietly, his back still to his niece. "I'm the part of him that enjoys dealing out pain, and the feel of my claws in meat and the taste of blood, and the rush that comes with fighting. He...I don't like to admit I exist. But I do. I want the blood, and the pain, and I enjoy it. But not yours," he said in anguish, spinning to face Acacia. "Never yours, or your siblings, or my family's."
A shaking hand reached out to brush against Acacia's cheek, falling to hover over her worst wound. "I never...never your pain. I only want to spare you that. I would do anything to spare you. I never meant to cause you pain."
"...I...I know, Uncle Dipper," Acacia said, quietly, "But..."
He drifted closer and Acacia stood her ground, still furious, but softening, now that she could see her uncle in this aspect of him. "I'll come with you," he said, the arena beginning to dissolve around them. "I'll come quietly. No more blood. No more fighting. For you, I'll come."