AN: This is post "Beast on the Winter Wind" and my Owl House story "Dream Diaries" Warning: Some alcohol use if that bothers anyone.
"Then as it was, then again it will be/And though the course may change sometimes/Rivers always reach the sea/…/Through the eyes an' I sparkle/Senses growing keen/Taste your love along the way/See your feathers preen/Kind of makes me feel sometimes/Didn't have to grow/We are eagles of one nest/The nest is in our soul." – Led Zeppelin
The forest around them looked as familiar as ever, the crisp mountain air always fresh and new no matter how many times they would visit this place. Yet the Pines Twins were divided in their focus, their rental car speeding through the rural area and turning the surrounding northwestern forest a blur of green and reddish brown. Mabel of course had no problem taking in every sight, every color, every smell, every sensory input the rural area could offer her, especially since she stuck her head out the car window to absorb the atmosphere and aesthetics. Dipper, on the other hand, had laser focus on the road.
He was both nervous and excited to see his fiance, the beautiful town princess Pacifica Northwest, who had called him every night on video chat until the next time they could see each other again. After everything they had gone through together, even facing monsters and entities over the past decade, they were both determined that the distance would not keep them apart. That was the advantage of the modern age, anyway. They both wondered how anyone before the 2000's maintained long distance relationships. They were at least able to watch each other's graduation, hers from University of Portland and his from Myskatonic University in Arkham.
"And I bet Paz is just as excited to see you, tooooooo!" Mabel beamed playfully as she pulled herself back in from the window and refastened her seatbelt.
"I think that's obvious, Mabel," Dipper groaned but then chuckled nervously, "I hope she is, I mean…I hope she didn't meet someone new and wants to call off the wedding and…"
"Oh brother," Mabel rolled her eyes, "Your insecurities are showing again. I thought we were past these already. She even called you last night while you were asleep at the airport! I had to answer since I couldn't wake you up. Expect her to be a little peeved but still 100 percent anxious to see you. She did put Gideon on the line, though, once she saw me, so that gave us a chance to talk before the flight."
"Are they all just spending the night over there or something?"
"Well, there are plenty of rooms in the Mystery Shack," Mabel replied, "Pacifica's come quite a long way and clearly doesn't have any trouble sleeping in a dusty place like that."
"I think Soos and Melody keep it pretty clean," Dipper said with some assurance, "They're definitely more responsible about it than Gruncle Stan. And I really hope he and Ford got the message we're all meeting tonight. The feedback I've been getting on that transdimensional radio has been getting pretty bad."
"Aww, I'm sure they got it," Mabel patted his arm, "Everyone's going to be there, everyone's gonna make it. Just stop worrying so much, bro bro. Anyways, where is all this coming from? I thought we made a lotta progress so far on your anxieties."
"I don't know," Dipper answered, "I've got this weird feeling that something's not right, and I don't know why. I graduated cum laude…"
"You've got a hot fiance," Mabel continued his words, "Her jerk of a dad at least decided to give you a grant, and you're setting up base for your ghost hunting YouTube channel in a nice house in Portland soon. So what's the problem?"
"I think my investigator's instinct is tingling," Dipper sighed, "Ever since the events in LA with the interdimensional frog robot invasion and whatever that craziness the Boiling Isles brought to Gravesfield, Connecticut, I've just got this feeling that some massive 'weirdness' spike is going to hit Gravity Falls as well."
In no time, they pulled off the side of the road into the small side road that lead to the infamous Mystery Shack. As Dipper turned off the car and placed his feet on the familiar soil, he looked up to gaze upon a sight that was not so familiar. It was indeed the Mystery Shack, but it looked so much nicer! The roof was painted, the outside wood seemed to have a lot of protective lacquer coated onto it. The outside furniture looked to have been replaced. But the biggest change was the various artifacts that stood along the path to the Shack. Various creatures pointing towards the entrance to the shack, inviting its patrons into the unknown mysteries this tiny hovel might contain. Some of them did indeed look like plastic but only on close inspection, while others looked more authentic, like they were made of a material Dipper's naked eye didn't recognize.
Who should be on the outside couch but Pacifica, who it looked like had been eagerly waiting for them to arrive.
"DIPPER!" she screamed out excitedly and immediately got up from the couch and ran down the path. She jumped at him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him, while he held her around the waist and spun around with her. "I missed you soooo much, my nerdy boy!" she exhaled with the hint of a whimper.
"I missed you, too, Pacifica," Dipper responded, setting her down and looking into her blue eyes that clearly had some hint of violet about them.
"Before I forget, I've got some plans about the wedding I want to go over," Pacifica quickly muttered, "I want a certain number of songs played, a giant ice swan, Billie Eilish and Kate Bush to sing for us, since Stranger Things is trending, and…"
"Pacifica, it's okay," Dipper interrupted before kissing her again, "We can go over it after dinner."
"Yeah," Pacifica huffed, trying to calm herself down, "I'll be patient. And I'm sure your parents probably have some Jewish traditions they might want to add to it…But…yeah, I'll be patient." This was extremely hard for her. She hadn't seen her fiance in so long that all this had been welling up inside her. Why couldn't he just move to Oregon right now for the two of them to be together? She let out a small heave of breath and tried not to think about it. She was just happy he was here.
"Hey, Pacifica!" Mabel shouted with a good amount of enthusiasm, "You're looking pretty as ever!"
"Ha, but of course!" Pacifica chuckled while rolling her eyes, "But thanks Mabel!" She was indeed wearing an elegant short purple sundress that was clearly designed for the summer heat with makeup that went along very well with it. "Gideon's inside helping Soos with something-I-don't-know-what, but I don't think he'd mind an interruption."
"THANKS! Trust me, I understand you two need your space!" Mabel grinned before quickly darting inside.
"Okay, NOW it's just us." Pacifica heaved a sigh of relief before giving Dipper another long kiss, "Sorry…It's just been too long since I've seen you."
"I feel the same," Dipper replied before kissing her again, "But has anything changed since last we were here?"
"Where do you want me to start?" Pacifica rolled her eyes.
"I'm curious about these statues," Dipper nodded slowly, walking over to one of them that looked to be made from the strange granite rather than styrofoam.
"Well," Pacifica huffed loudly, "That's a long story in and of itself. Ford and I travelled back to Dimension 52 or whatever it's called to see his girlfriend."
"The Oracle?" Dipper chimed in, "How is she? And you two have been going across dimensions together."
"I gotta pass the dull moments away from the diner somehow, Dipper," Pacifica replied, "And I'm just happy Ford and I get along so well. He's like older you! But, the Oracle, her headaches aside, I'm really happy she took my advice on her wardrobe. I really think turquoise suits her. My mom hated that color for some reason, as well as seafoam green. I don't get it." She caught herself trailing off. "Sorry. Anyways, we started finding these random statues around her land, all seeming to point to something. After talking to Soos, and I'm really happy he worked hard and made something of himself and this place, we decided we would try to make it a part of the attraction if we brought it home."
"Doesn't seem like Ford," Dipper raised an eyebrow, "He'd want to know what these things were actually pointing to. Nothing is ever that simple, even to a novice interdimensional anthropologist."
"Well that's the thing," Pacifica continued, "He and Stan sent out a probe to try and figure out where this thing was pointing to on the Oracle's island and see if there was anything there or whatever. Trust me, Ford doesn't give up on these sorts of things. The statues themselves were just guide markings, I guess."
"That sounds more like him," Dipper chuckled, "I'll have to ask him if he's found anything. And do we know what material these are made out of?"
"Not from here," Pacifica answered, "But Ford assured us they're safe. Apparently there are more, but he hasn't been able to bring them here, hence the painted styrofoam ones. But I think we should go in. They're gonna wonder where we went."
"Let them," Dipper walked back over and kissed her, "We've been engaged for a year now. It's none of their business."
Mabel crept into the shack, and only found a small plastic triangular sign at the front desk reading "Off discovering new monstrosities and mysterious weirdness! Be back soon!" Glancing over the familiar foyer and the tacky merchandise gave her brain a flood of memories, all rushing back like Niagra Falls in an overwhelming sense of nostalgia she hadn't felt for so long. For a moment, she wondered what such a feeling would look like associated with color. A rainbow effect came to mind, a yellow orange for the good memories, a blue for the sad times, a red for the angrier scarier times. She blinked for a moment as she came back to the present day and wondered if this was what they described as synesthesia. She was able to perceive colors Dipper didn't think she could, ones apparently associated with the senses of bees and stereotypical art students.
She moved towards the opened door behind the vending machine. Her small steps down the wooden stairs made a soft creaking sound that made her immediately think of some tiny mouse. She wondered for a moment if she would see any. They were all so cute. Maybe she could take one home and keep it as a pet. Nah, she couldn't take care of a pet right now besides Waddles. Poor guy was moving slower than usual these days.
She made her way to the bottom and found the iron door was open. Security seemed to be in lax since the last time she was here. She didn't care; it just made things less complicated. And of course, there he was, Gideon, the boy whom she could not stand 10 years ago now having improved and become much more charming. She didn't care that he was younger than her; she'd dated younger guys before, and he had made many improvements on himself and had to mature much faster than most kids given everything he had gone through. There was something to be said about him having worked on his figure as well; given that he was now a junior engineer at Bud's automotive, he definitely got a workout every day. Currently, it appeared he was doing maintenance on Ford's new portal. Mabel rushed up behind him.
"Guess who!" she chimed, putting her hands in front of his eyes.
"Uh, Shaniah Twain?" he laughed.
"Nope, two more tries!"
"Hmm, Dolly Parton?"
"One more gue-eeess!"
"Ah, I know," Gideon turned around, "my sweet Mabel!" And the two kissed. "Now a college grad. Wish I coulda seen that back in June."
"Yup!" She then pulled out her phone to her Etsy sweater store page. "And already in business for myself! Gotta start somewhere!"
"That's mighty fine to hear," Gideon sighed, "I'm right most happy for you. I just wish I could find a good job myself, but given my incarceration record, the only place I could find work was in daddy's car dealership. Thankfully, Ford just took me in and set me to work."
"Aww, you'll find something!" Mabel put her hand on his shoulder, but at least old Fordsie gave you a chance. How is it?"
"Ain't too different than working on a car…or a giant robot," Gideon replied hesitantly, "Anyways, he just wanted me to fix this here portal for his next trip. Which he should be coming back from right about…"
Just then, the portal opened, thankfully not sending everything flying in the room this time, and out of it emerged Ford and Stan before the aperture closed and the device powered down.
"MY TWO FAVORITE GRUNCLES!" Mabel shouted and gave them both massive hugs, one on each arm.
"Hey, glad to see my favorite ever growing niece, too," Stan replied.
"And a wonderful job to Gideon here," Ford smiled and walked over to the mentioned teen, "for stabilizing the electromagnetic fluctuation so that the whole town doesn't go sailing into the sky again. I finally got the reparations paid off for all that last year."
"Weren't nothin'!" Gideon smiled, "Just followed your directions. Had to rebuild a V12 engine from scratch at daddy's shop last week. Was 'bout the same."
"Well, fantastic work, indeed," Ford nodded, "Despite your history with my brother, I knew you wouldn't let us down. Anyways, where's…"
"FORD!" Pacifica came running into the chamber and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Oh, I'm glad you're back. Dipper made it, too."
"Glad you could make it, my boy!" Ford patted Dipper on the shoulder after they both set the equipment they had been hauling down, "Not so much a boy now."
"Time does fly," Dipper smiled in calm resolve on this reflection. Memories were assaulting his senses as well, being down here in the basement when the portal had first gone off. And now here they all were. 'How far we've come,' he thought to himself.
"Where's that Eda lady?" Mabel asked, "I really liked her." Gruncle Stan sighed at this.
"Bit of a delicate subject, Mabel," Ford said.
"Nah, it's fine," Stan groaned, "She had to go back to the Boiling Isles and got back with that Rayne person she was going on about. Eh, who am I to stop her, right? I'm only in my late 60's; I guess it's time I just got real about this that romance just isn't in the cards for me."
"Aww, don't say that," Mabel smiled, "It's never too late! You may be old, but you're not dead!"
"And theoretically," Ford added, "I think all this planar travel that we've been doing has slowed our aging, so you have more time than you think, Stanley. The same thing may be happening to Dr. Sanchez and his grandson."
"…I guess that helps," Mabel cocked her head to the side at this.
"Speaking of," Ford added, "I'm a bit concerned after some recent events with the Boiling Isles. Dipper's already aware of the anomalous talking ferocious rats, but as of a few weeks ago, I haven't been able to return to it no matter which trans-dimensional coordinates I use. It's like it's become blocked off. And the last time I was there, some students from that Hexside school, including that rude one with three eyes I'd met on a previous visit, seemed flighty and almost in some walking dream state, questioning if I'd 'seen the yellow sign.'"
"Definitely not a good sign," Dipper muttered, "No pun intended. Bill was yellow; could this have to do with him?"
"I'm afraid it could be something even more powerful and nefarious than him," Ford replied solemnly, "But hopefully, I'm able to get to the bottom of it soon."
"I'll gladly help with whatever you need for this," Dipper perked up.
"So will I," Mabel added.
"Same here!" Pacifica chimed in, "Someone's got to reign in the silliness you both project when you're together…and look good doing it."
"Aww, you just want to make sure Dipper is safe," Mabel poked her in the side, making her yelp.
"…That, too." Pacifica sighed.
"You jus' let me know how you want it rigged up," Gideon added, "an' I'll make this portal contraption go wherever you need."
"Hey now!" A familiar voice came from the top of the stairs, "Did I miss a conversation?"
"Wendy!" Mabel shouted as she ran to the stair to greet her; the flannel-shirted redhead was carrying two six packs and a huge smile on her face. "Knew you'd bring the good stuff with you!"
"You know I've got a good taste in beer," Wendy replied, hugging Mabel and then proceeding to Dipper and Pacifica. "Great seeing you all! How were the flights?"
"Oh you know," Dipper ho-humed out, "the usual stuff happened. Saw some gremlin on the wing of the plane but the captain thought it was just turbulence."
"Took my…dad's private jet here from Portland a month and a half ago before I started back up at the diner," Pacifica answered hesitantly, "I don't like relying on him, but it's better than getting stuck between two smelly hobos. I can just imagine if one of them fell asleep and drooled on me."
"Well, I'm just glad we all made it here safe," Wendy smiled, "without any…weirdness coming after us."
"Weirdness is just a normal part of our lives," Mabel replied, "But what exactly do you mean?"
"Well, since I left Toronto," Wendy continued, "I've felt like I'm being watched. On the way here, when I got a chance to nap when I pulled off to the side of the road, I dreamed of a big weird looking eye staring at me. I dunno; I've never really been the one for these things to single out besides the ghosts in my house. It could just be a dream."
"Just let us know if things get worse," Dipper said, "Bill came to people in their dreams, so I've learned not to just write them off."
"Yeah," Pacifica followed, "I want to make sure my Disneyworld tagalong sister is okay."
"Will do," Wendy nodded, "But I think Soos has dinner ready."
"Whoa, hey now!" another familiar voice came from the top of the stairs, "Don't start without me!"
"Hey, Robbie!" Wendy responded, "Didn't think you'd make it."
"C'mon," Robbie huffed, "You didn't think I'd miss a meeting with my destiny crew, did ya!?"
"So where's Tambry?" Mabel asked cheerily, hoping she would get some steamy or cute answer but didn't get the details she wanted.
"Oh, yeah, she's in town," Robbie responded, "Just looking at the novelty shops before hitting up her old haunts in the electronics stores. She kinda didn't want to interrupt our zodiac wheel meeting, but she can meet us later."
*.*.*
Within moments, the group was out at the large round table setup in the side yard. The sun had set over the treeline and was now casting its dim orange-red rays through the lower portion of the tree trunks. The group laughed together as they ate bbq pork, mashed potatoes, some grilled corn on the cob, all while drinking Guinness and Blehaven.
"So that's how you and your boyfriend got together?" Mabel asked.
"Yeah," Wendy swished her head back and forth before taking another swig of ale, "he and I kinda bonded after the same girl had broken up with both of us. She was pretty eccentric; decided she was going to take a spirit journey across the country that ended by diving over Niagara Falls, thinking there was some sort of extradimensional portal that would open up if you dove off. Reeeally hope she wore a bungee cord if things went south. Anyways, my current guy is in the lumber business as well, not to mention we're into the same odd folk music as well, so it kinda made sense. Finally got a place together in Toronto."
"Sooooo, is he going to put a ring on it or not!?" Mabel grinned from ear to ear.
"Sounds like you two were dating long enough," Pacifica interjected, "That guy better appreciate what he has with you! My Dipper was smart enough to realize that at least!"
"I'm more curious about this planar portal you mentioned," Ford added.
"Well," Wendy sighed, "We had been debating whether that was the kind of institutional path we wanted to take or not. I'm kinda expecting him to do it soon, but my nightmares have been kinda more on my mind than anything else. It's making me wonder if Bill's influence reaches as far north as Canada."
"I've been studying possible Bill sightings for the past ten years," Dipper nodded, "Apparently, he's had some influential force as far back as ancient Egypt. At the time, they called him Nyarlathotep. Then I found out they had a good number of writings at Myskatonic's library about that very name, and…"
"Bro," Mabel interrupted, "Let's not go down that dorky rabbit hole right now. This is supposed to be a happy time!"
"Yes," Ford added, "It's the ten year anniversary of Weirdmageddon. We should be happy that we survived and drove back the evil from this land."
"Dude," Soos continued on the subject, "I saw some yellow eyes outside my son's room and thought 'Oh, no! Bill's back!' but really it was just a raccoon. Cool guy, though; I shared some of my fries with the little furry dude, but then he brought his family who wanted more. Speaking of racoons, do you think President McGuckett got our message?"
"Probably didn't get past the Pentagon's firewalls," Dipper replied, "They probably thought it was spam or something."
Just then, they heard the sounds of a helicopter, growing louder with each passing second. The tops of the trees began to sway faster as they saw the spinning metallic bird pass over their heads. The helicopter landed just forty feet of the picnic table, out of which emerged two secret service agents and their weird hillbilly friend now turned 45th president, Fiddleford McGuckett.
So after the hillbilly turned president hobbled over to the group, his raccoon still scurrying around him, he began to relate his own tales to the group.
"So after I concocted up that there COVID vaccine, I started makin' a blueprint for a re'newble source of power. I was fixin to get er done when Reagan…er sorry, a woman in my secret R&D, wandered in, and my raccoon wife decided she was gonna get jealous and throw down with her. I reckon she's used to crazy critters because she was able to get her off her head and give me the news she needed to without even losin breath. She's got a lotta gumption, I tell you what!"
"She sounds pretty tough," Wendy chimed in, "What about you Robbie? Any crazy stories you got to share?"
"Or maybe any romantic ones with Tambry?" Mabel drew out Tambry's name with a huge smile on her face, leaning forward with excitement.
"Oh, man, nothing that interesting," Robbie shrugged, "We're both going to settle in Portland at least for now. She's trying to get a job in cell phone technological design, and I'm doing graphic design for a local music store. Gotta say, drawing flaming skulls and robots with guitars doesn't get old; I'm not even that good, but they seem okay with it. There's a guy there who says he could help me move those sick designs I made and move them towards tattoo work."
"Aww so you did stay together!" Mabel swooned.
"And you're still wearing that same hoodie, I see," Pacifica raised an eyebrow.
"Hey, this is a hoodie of destiny, man," Robbie replied, "Even after I grew a bit more, it felt like the sweater was growing with me just to match. I figured it was getting stretched out, but then something weird happened. I opened my closet one morning and found some moths had gotten in there and chewed a few holes in it; I was pretty bummed out but when I got some thread to sew it up, the holes were gone, as if it fixed itself somehow."
"Whoa dude," Soos muttered, "Definitely sounds like a hoodie to keep."
"Well, now that everyone is here," Food stood up, "I would like to propose a toast to having survived ten years after Weirdmaggeddon."
"Oh, let me go get the bread!" Mabel shouted.
"Mabel…" Dipper rolled his eyes while everyone laughed.
"Just joking," Mabel continued, "And to staying friends and building our relationships even after all these years!"
All held up their beers, soda in Gideon's case, and clicked their glasses, shouting "Cheers!"
"And to facing down any other threats that might befall this town or this world!" Ford added.
"Heck yeah!" Wendy exclaimed, "Got my great great granddad's axe, which still seems to have some ghost power in it; I could take on any dream monster that might be headed my way."
"I'll do my part, dudes," Soos chimed in.
"You need to strong arm anything, Ford," Stan held up his arm and flexed, still very fit for a man his age, "I'm ready to give it a punch in the face."
"Course I'll help you fellers," Gideon smiled, "As long as Mabel's with me on it."
"Ten years ago, that would've creeped me out," Mabel reached out and held his hand, "But not now. And Dipper, dear bro-bro?"
"Oh…yeah…" Dipper shook his head and gave a thumbs up, "Definitely. But excuse me for a minute, okay?" He then got up and walked back into the shack.
"Is he okay?" Wendy directed the question to Pacifica.
"Hey, don't look at me," Pacifica responded, "Half the time, I can't tell what's going through his head when he gets lost in thought like that."
"Maybe you should check on him," Mabel said, "You've been the easiest person for him to talk to as of late, even more than me." She and Pacifica even remembered a night where they had a conversation about that, how Mabel was worried she was losing touch with him and that she felt jealous that Paz was getting more attention. In the end, they had concluded this was a natural part of life as they would eventually build romantic relationships.
"You certainly have been a tremendous influence on each other after all this time," Ford added, "And I'm happy to see the two of you are getting married soon."
"And how this family might be inheriting some of that Northwest fortune," Stan muttered a bit louder than he meant; Pacifica growled, wanting to punch him, but Wendy had that covered by giving him a short slug in the shoulder. "Ow! C'mon it was a joke!"
"Yeah, I'll see what he's doing," Pacifica then sighed, dabbed her lips with a napkin, and got up from the table while also daintily putting her chair under the table. (She might have been among friends in a casual environment, but her engrained table manners still manifested themselves.) She made her way into the house and knew instinctively where he was going: up to his and his sister's old bedroom. Sure enough, she turned the corner into the now empty, lifeless room and found him standing near the triangular window, the dying light of the evening giving the room a soft but uneasy orange-red tint.
"Is…everything okay, Dipper dear?" Pacifica asked sweetly, "I thought you would have been the first to give your battle cry to fending off any stupid monsters that might head our way." She moved towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind him while resting her cheek on the back of his shoulder. He instantly felt calmer on the inside as he reached up and held her hands.
"I'm okay, I guess," Dipper breathed heavily, "And yeah, I'll gladly face down whatever eldritch nightmare comes the Falls' way, but that's the thing about it. I'm always going to be doing that, be it low key with our ghost hunting show or on a bigger scale with Ford. Nothing about what I do is going to be normal; it could be potentially dangerous for you and everyone involved. It just makes me think what kind of life I can give you and maybe our…" He stopped himself. Was what he was about to say thinking too far ahead? But the fact still stood and was still the thing that ate him up at night: the undiscovered future.
"Okay, listen, dork," she spun him around and held up her hand with the engagement ring. Even in the slowly fading light, the ring still glistened with various rainbow colors when she turned it just right while otherwise being an onyx color, "When I said yes and let you put this ring on my finger the Christmas before last, don't you think I'd thought about what I was signing up for? I mean, even this ring itself isn't 'normal'; you said it was made by a bunch of different metals that weren't even from this dimension, right? No, I don't want some humdrum posh life my parents were trying to force on me where all I would do is get richer, insincere, and even more judgemental of others than I already am, something I'm still trying to wrestle with even to this day. You give my life excitement and meaning. And you make me want to be a better person, Dipper Pines, and I will be more than happy to add your last name to mine. Whatever this future you're so scared of holds," she then took his hands and held them together in hers, raising them to the center of her chest, "We face it together, my handsome nerdy prince."
He allowed himself to look into her indigo eyes and noticed there were traces of tears in them. He may not have all the answers, but he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his days with her, and she was clearly willing to face whatever this life threw at them, even if it meant the return of Bill Cipher himself. He pulled her close and kissed her long and deep, the two of them wrapping their arms around each other and holding each other as tightly as possible.
"You know I didn't get to wish you and Mabel a happy birthday yet," she said softly while kissing him.
"You can tell us this weekend," Dipper answered, smiling while rubbing noses with her, "We'll plan to celebrate then."
"Good," Pacifica nodded, "I still haven't gotten your gifts yet. In the meantime, let's take advantage of the privacy and just enjoy each other."
Their warm embrace synchronized with the setting of the sun on the small sleepy town of anomalous mysteries, and with it came the countless unknown yellow eyes that were now fixated on the jovial friends and their Mystery Shack.