A tear dripped onto the old paper as a perfectly manicured nail turned the page.
Stupid Dipper.
Pacifica was hunched up in her bed, her nightshirt pulled over her knees as she flipped through the notepad, trying to put together the story of Tobias Determined and his research. It wasn't as easy to follow as she had expected.
Tobias wrote with beautiful handwriting, with a very genuine pride and charisma that felt befitting of the chiselled portrait on the old newspaper. All the same, he was - like Dipper - prone to running off on chains of thought, onto bizarre tangents that seemed fuelled by paranoia, suspicion and fear.
Unfortunately, every time it reminded her of Dipper, she felt herself getting upset again. It was only her desperately investigative mindset that fuelled her to continue.
She wasn't conning the Pines. She knew that. She loved the Pines family. She adored Dipper. She loved everything about this crooked little wooden hovel and the people who lived there. To have that questioned didn't just anger her, it frustrated her.
She sniffed and wiped her eyes as she put down the notepad for a spell.
She knew she'd been a bad person. She understood that Dipper wouldn't drop some of the things they'd been through, and she knew that he wouldn't forget how she used to be as a person - how she used to treat people.
But she knew for a fact, this time, that she hadn't done anything wrong. She really didn't know what else could be in that mansion.
Dipper barely seemed to acknowledge the fact that she had Preston Northwest as a dad. Somebody who had used a bell to control her, somebody who gave endless commands and instructions - somebody who ruled with an iron fist. How could he forget that?
Pacifica wasn't some sort of rebel. She wasn't raised to go against her family. She had been taught to do exactly the opposite, no matter how minor those rebellions could be. She would barely dare to go against her mother's choice of colour scheme, let alone just… go exploring in that nightmarish labyrinth of woodsman chic decor.
With so many rooms, so many corridors, her Dad always told her it was pointless to go nosing around. The building was built to such excess and overindulgence that she was pretty sure she could get lost there.
She sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve, before very rapidly realising how gross that was and cursing herself for it.
It shamed her to think it, but she had never explored that mansion any further than Dipper had during that Northwest Fest. She didn't know anything about the place. She hadn't even heard of The Great Flood until that weird ghost turned up. Which, in retrospect, made her feel dumb. It made her feel ridiculously dumb.
The young blonde had lived there all her life in innocent bliss. Pure ignorance. Which is why she had been so damned excited to see for herself, even if the concept did scare her. She found all of these discoveries exciting. It was weird, it was creepy, it was bizarre and it freaked her out, but she wanted to learn . She wanted to match up to the Pines, stop worrying about being a nerd or a geek and instead worry about how awesome this secretive world of stories and cover-ups really was.
Her eyes floated back down the scraps of paper in their rusted metal binding.
This notepad could be the most thrilling - and most terrifying - thing she had ever found, and Dipper wasn't even there to join her. Dipper wasn't even there to calm her down.
She felt betrayed. She felt betrayed and she felt angry . She briefly considered going back downstairs to talk to him, but quickly shut the thought out of her mind. No, she hadn't actually done anything wrong. There was nothing to talk about. Just once, Pacifica was pretty sure Dipper needed to come and apologise to her .
There was a pause as she collected her thoughts and steeled herself, hoping to take a running jump at the handwritten notes and records and start her investigation.
Deep breaths. Deep breaths.
She lifted it back up and flipped the page, only to be greeted by a familiar visage. Tobias Determined had started his notepad with a sketch that anyone in town would recognise; a yellow triangle with top hat and bow tie, staring out with a single eye.
She froze briefly as her eyes met the drawing, memories of Weirdmageddon, of her Dad's facial features, of the battle for Gravity Falls, of the disastrous couple of days that almost destroyed her and everything she loved (and hated, but that was relatively unimportant.)
If there was one thing she knew the Pines were scared of, it was Bill. She knew Dipper and Mabel were both prone to nightmares about it. She knew that neither even liked to mention his name.
Bill Cipher may be gone - and everyone was pretty confident in the idea he was definitely gone - but his legacy was a haunted community in Oregon that could never shake off that overbearing feeling of dread and sinister memory.
Perhaps The Blind Eye society would have been useful post-Weirdmageddon…
The town itself found that geometric, bow tie donning demon a terrifying presence in their lives; a long-standing trauma that never seemed to stop haunting them. A trauma that went back hundreds of years... so said the words of Tobias Determined.
This strange cyclopian animal - for it most certainly doesn't resemble a man - has appeared in our town's historic relics and ancient papers for centuries, yet I am yet to see any such thing lurking in our forests or caverns.
I've spent many months, now, researching among the older, better educated families of Gravity Falls, eager to find a contact who may be able to elucidate this so-called 'Cipher'. I am of the opinion that this may be a lost piece of folklore.
All those who know of the Cipher have told me to approach the Northwest Family, who are arguably among the most educated regarding our town's history - having, supposedly, lived in the area of Oregon decades before the day that Quentin Trembley Nathaniel Northwest founded the township.
I'm afraid to say that my relationship with the Northwests is very strained. They know that I have little faith or belief in their family's propaganda, and little time for their monopolised industry over our locale.
Pacifica grimaced. She still found more than a little discomfort in coming face to face with her family's past - and, right now, felt more troubled by it than ever. The words that had seemingly run like a theme throughout her day - 'the apple never falls far from the family tree' - was echoing in her head and doing so with increasing volume and tenacity.
Another tear dropped onto the page. She cursed herself and scooted back against her pillows on the bed, burying her head into her arms.
She only needed a minute alone. That's all.
Of course, Pacifica lived in a room with Mabel, and Mabel had basically had one of the most amazing days ever.
Mabel also happened to arrive at exactly that moment, running in covered in grass stains and bruises with the biggest grin Pacifica had ever seen on her. And that was quite an achievement.
"Omigoshomigoshomigosh Pacifica, you won't believe the day I've had!" The motor-mouthed Pines twin rattled off as she started bouncing on the bed.
There was a pause as her caffeine-addled-brain began to compute the scene in front of her. Mabel may have been a ham, but she was no dunce. She stopped grinning, and immediately went to her best friend (and ex-frenemy), sitting alongside her.
"What's wrong, Paz?" She asked, trying to peer between Pacifica's arms to see her face. "Paz?"
"It's nothing. Your brother just…"
"My brother just…?" Mabel echoed, her brow beginning to furrow into a look of exasperation - though very little surprise. Mabel was no stranger to her brother's stubborn mood swings. "My brother did what ?"
"...Your brother asked me if I was conning you all today."
Mabel's mouth hung open in response, closing only when she blinked and gave herself a moment to think it over. "I mean… I guess I can see why he'd ask, but-"
"That's why I hate it so much." Pacifica whimpered, peering up over her sleeves. "I know why he thinks it."
"But you've changed, Pacifica! You're, like, all of the sass and none of the bitterness! I mean, I totally trust you. You're nothing like your folks."
"And what if I am? What if I'm just a bad person pretending to be something I'm not?"
"You aren't a bad person, Pacifica. You're just learning to be a better one. Do you have any idea how miserable Dipper was while we were away from town? I think he was totally crushing on you."
"Pft." Pacifica smiled. "You're sweet, but you're a liar."
"Nu-uh. I'm an expert in my bro, Paz. I know exactly how his mind works. Dipper's just scared of being caught out by things, scared of being tricked. Y'know?"
"I get that. But-"
"He likes to think everything has some kind of dark, hidden past. You should see the forums he posts on! If he was dumber, he'd be wearing a tinfoil hat and campaigning against cellphone masts."
"I know. I uh… I found a lot of his accounts after Summer." Pacifica sniffled with a smile on her face, wiping her eyes.
"Whoa. You were an internet stalker!" Mabel gave one of her trademark over-scandalised gasps. "You really were crazy for him, huh?"
"Pft, I-"
"He kept up with your blog too. I think he liked your writing even if he had no idea about fashion or horses and… stuff."
Pacifica wiped her eyes some more and smiled, resting her head on her hand. "I guess I do like blogging and stuff. I didn't realise he read it."
"Wow, two internet stalker nerds. It's like a 21st century romance." Mabel giggled.
Pacifica gave a weak smile, her mood already beginning to lift, and slowly, she felt herself loosening back up a bit in a more relaxed, more determined composure.
The two continued idly chatting for a while as they went over their experiences of autumn, winter and Spring without eachothers paths crossing, save for the odd text or social media like. By the end of it, Pacifica felt better, and had been quite convinced Dipper was just acting up in the hopes of protecting his family.
It was difficult to be sad around Mabel. Her enthusiasm and boundless positivity really did have a habit of infecting everyone around her. The dour Grunkles would light up like a Christmas tree whenever they spent time with her, and, right now, Pacifica was genuinely surprised to have a smile on her face.
What struck her even more was Mabel's developing ability to control herself. It was clear she was excited - super excited - by whatever her latest romantic escapade was, but she kept it quiet around Pacifica when faced with the ongoing drama.
The Northwest heir sighed and laid back a little. It felt good to have friends, even if it did sort of wake up that voice in the back of her head.
Why were you so horrible to these people? Do you have any idea how lucky you are to have gotten a second chance? You should be ashamed-
"Watcha reading?" Mabel piped in, lifting up the notepad.
"Oh, uh… it's something Toby gave me."
" Toby ? What is it, a flipbook?" Mabel giggled.
She flipped over the first page - and had a very visceral response. Immediately, she threw it back down and yelled at the top of her voice, standing up and scrambling back against the bedside table, causing the little lantern atop it to rattle.
The panic attack wasn't a surprise, really. That… thing had kind of threatened everything Mabel held dear, gaslit her into some kind of fictional paradise and almost caused her beloved Grunkle to lose every memory of his person.
Pacifica cringed. She probably should have expected that. "You okay?"
Mabel stood up and backed away, her eyes wide, breathing heavily. "Wh-wha- why is he in there?!"
"Mabel, calm down. Apparently this was written by Toby's great-grandpa. He was researching the town's weirdness long before Grunkle Ford did."
Mabel cautiously leaned back in and took a little longer to look through the next few pages.. Somewhat more comfortable, she sat down and read with her future sister in law, carrying a renewed enthusiasm."But he's writing about the Northwests…?"
"Apparently there's a few more connections with… him and my family than I really wanted to believe. And that's before we even think about Curzon."
"Curzon isn't a patch on Bill." Mabel scoffed.
"Bill isn't still out there."
There was a generous pause as that comment seemed to sink in. Mabel stared out of the triangular window at the Oregon forests, the towering pine trees swinging gently in the wind. Her mind kind of flashed over as she thought about the strange creatures, villains and oddities they had taken on over the past year-and-a-bit.
She wasn't oblivious. At least, not all the time.. She knew that their brand of anomaly was… pretty resilient. She knew that Curzon was pretty capable.
She also knew that they hadn't actually seen any of Curzon's curses at work, apart from those snowglobes. And that was more silly than a particularly sinister piece of work, right?
She gulped. Maybe that liquorice shadow-centipede was a bit scarier than she gave it credit for.
"Are we sure that Curzon is?"
"Quentin seemed pretty certain. And he told us that he'd be going to Northwest Manor." Pacifica replied, sternly.
"I mean… I love Trembley as much as the next eligible lady bachelor." Mabel replied, "But is he really a reliable source?"
"Maybe it's just me, but I think Trembley was a bit more sensible than people give him credit for. I mean, he did manage to train a giant goose. How crazy can he be?"
"Well, least we're going there, right? We'll shove Curzon's cigar straight up his-"
"You seriously think we can take him on? Mabel, we blew him up and he's still going!"
Mabel remained rather over confident. "I bet Grunkle Stan could pummel him."
Pacifica raised an eyebrow. "I wish I could believe that, Mabel. I mean, it's meant to be just me and Dipper exploring the place, and I can't even get him to trust me ."
"He'll get over it. I know we can trust you, Pacifica." Mabel smiled. "Besides, if I know my brother…"
Mabel wordlessly stepped towards the door, narrowly avoiding every creaky floorboard beneath her, then quickly opened the door - causing Dipper to fall into the room, landing flat on his face with a somewhat painful sounding thump.
"...He'll be doing his creepy eavesdropping thing." She continued triumphantly.
The dork in the lumberjack hat scrambled back up and leaned against the doorframe with a smile on his face, making a desperate - and, of course, completely useless - attempt at looking casual. "H-hey, I was just passing by and-"
His eyes met the red, tear stained face of Pacifica Northwest - and any attempt at maintaining his facade faltered very quickly.
Mabel walked out of the room and slapped her brother's back, partially in friendly banter, partially in a very sincere punishment for her brother's stupidity. "Go get 'em, Tiger."
Had Mabel planned that?