Chapter Fourteen:

Pacifica felt like she was floating. Ahead of her she saw the magnificent Mexican sunset. It's yellow, oranges, red, and purples surrounding her as she stood majestic on the top of a volcano. As she admired the scene around her she could hear a melancholy song come from the crater in the top of the volcano. She walked over and peaked in. Floating in the middle of the chasm were the two lovers, Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, dancing in each other's embrace. As they twirled and spun, Iztaccihuatl's hair began to brighten from it's raven black to a golden blond. Popocatepetl's hair shorten drastically and began to change to brown. Their outfits melted from traditional native wear to a lake-foam green dress and a strapping black tux.

Pacifica gasped as she realized that the two lovers had transformed into her and Dipper. She smiled at the sight and sighed contentedly.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Pacifica?" Dipper carefully shook her as he tried to wake her.

Pacifica slowly opened her eyes and felt the hard, cold ground underneath her sleeping bag. She groaned, unwilling to leave her dream. She had to wake up, though, and when she did she was overwhelmed by a throbbing headache, and a wave of nausea. Pacifica raced out of tent, bent over a little ways out of camp and vomited out what was left of her dinner.

"Uh, oh," Dipper said as he approached her. "Yup, altitude sickness." Dipper walked back to his back pack and pulled out a medicine bottle. He took one pill and his canteen and walked back to her.

"Take this it will help."

Pacifica gulped down the pill and rubbed her forehead to try to relieve the headache.

"Just give it a minute to kick in," he told her as he patted her back.

The guide shouted at them.

"Un Minuto!" Dipper yelled back. He patted her hair again. "Just take your time, we got all day."

Within a few minutes Pacifica was feeling well enough to walk. Her head still throbbed, but her stomach wasn't bothering as much it was before. As they marched on ward she the pounding persisted, she didn't complain though. She just kept walking. They walked until the noon, when the sun was straight above them. They then stopped just long enough to eat lunch, when Dipper pulled out some kind of monitor. They kept going for about an hour and a half before Dipper stopped. He was looked back down at his monitor.

"I'm getting a lot of activity on the monitor," he said. "Let's see if we can make contact."

Pacifica began to feel a bit uneasy.

"Don't worry," Dipper said. "I don't think it'll hurt us. Hopefully it'll just wanna talk."

"Yeah, that's what you said the last time we hunted a ghost."

"Hey, I was twelve, I've gotten better at this since then," he chuckled as he pulled out a small, mechanical bow. He turned in on and a static sound began to emit from it. Dipper stood up, held it out at arms length.

"Is there anyone here with us?" he asked.

There was no reply.

"We're not here to hurt you," Dipper continued. "We just want to talk. Can you hear us?"

There was a pause before a very faint "yes" played over the box. Pacifica almost jumped out of her skin as Dipper laughed gleefully.

"Are you Popocatepetl?"

"Yes."

Dipper cheered again.

"Did you die here?"

"Yes."

Dipper gasped and Pacifica began to giggle like an idiot. This was amazing! And not nearly as scary as the last encounter six years ago.

"Did you come here trying to save your love?"

"Yes."

Pacifica clasped her hands to her mouth. The poor man!

"Do you have anything you want to say?" Dipper finally asked.

"…take…now…don't…let go…"

Pacifica frowned, confused. "Take. Now. Don't let go."

Dipper shrugged, "I'm not sure."

"Hold…love…"

Pacifica perked up. "Take. Now. Don't. Let go. Hold. Love…Take a chance no and don't let go of and hold onto love? Is that what you're trying to say?"

"…yes."

Dipper and Pacifica glanced at each other. Was this ghost…no…that couldn't be.

They asked a few more questions, tried to get more response, but the voice didn't come back, so they packed up and began the trek back down.

IIIIIIIIIIII

"…Pacifica?"

Pacifica opened her eyes and found that she was leaned against the jeep window. She looked around as saw that they were parked just next to the dock and Maztlan.

"We're back," Dipper said as he unbuckled and got out of the jeep. Pacifica stepped out and stretched. She pulled out her phone to check the time. 12:30. December 1st.

Pacifica gave a small grin. Four months. It had already been almost four months since she'd made the decision to leave her parents and their rich life behind. She still wasn't quite used to this adventuring paranormal lifestyle yet, but she was getting there, and pretty soon she was sure she'd be able to fully enjoy it. Pacifica pulled her bags out of the back of the jeep and walked on board the Stan-o-War. The minute she reached the dock, her phone began to ring. She pulled it out, looked down, and saw the name "Mabel" flashing across the screen. She grinned and answered.

"Hello?"

"Paz…" Mabel voice broke off into sobs. Pacifica's insides grew cold.

"Mabel?"

"Pacifica, I'm so sorry…"