A/N: Wow, this one is a long one. Like about 4,818 words. Longer than the very first Wham Chapter that is Chapter Ten. However, I wanna start out by saying that I'm shocked at having received only two reviews for the previous chapter. I understood, however, that this is when school really bites down hard. So, based on this reason and another, I decided to have y'all wait instead of uploading it last Saturday. But now that I come back to post this, still two reviews. It's weird. So, yeah. Hope I'm not coming off as ungrateful. I'm just a little worried, is all. Lemme extend a thank you to those who favorited me and this story, and to the two who reviewed! thank you!
So, now that that's out of the way, here's Chapter Twenty-Three, which continues right from the last one! I hope you enjoy!
A Triangle in the Stars
Chapter Twenty-Three: Remembrance and A Tale Untold
The two teenage girls climbed the steps to the Temple, and soon Connie knocked on the door. But there was no answer.
"I guess they're not home..." the brunette got another idea, pulling out her phone, "hold on, I'm going to call him..." she activated her speed dial, calling his phone, but was disappointed when she heard it ring from within the house.
"Does that usually happen...?" Wendy frowned. This made her feel sick to her stomach. What if Bill already had his way with Steven...? the thought sent another shudder down her spine.
"I'm sure he's out at the Big Donut or something," she smiled at Wendy, trying to assure her. "He would be out, on a beautiful day like this."
"...I dunno, man... no person would ever leave their phone," the redhead sighed, trying to keep herself calm. "I don't think he'd forget it..."
"Maybe he did. You never know. Maybe he was in a rush... in fact, he might already be at the school, having heard the news!"
"Oh no..." she paled. That wasn't a prospect she wanted. Then again, none of these possibilities racing in her head were ideal. She then kicked the door open, deciding to just check for herself, and walked in, and Connie followed, blinking slightly. The television was the first thing they heard, as it was still on and tuned into the local news channel. And, of course, the local news was focused on the school at the moment.
"Wow. Literally..." Connie hadn't expected that. The redhead nodded. She took a look around, eyeing that strange light blue door, and the Warp Pad. But she largely ignored them. Ever since Weirdmageddon, nothing much fazed her anymore. All she did was wonder what they did. But this wasn't the time. She called for Steven again, wondering if he was just in another part of the house. And then she called for Bill with a ton of hesitation. There was no answer from the triangle...
Nor was there an answer from the boy himself...
Connie sighed, "Just as I expected. We should go try and help them!"
"I don't think we can..." she heard more from the television. A Gem Monster was apparently running rampant. She grimaced. That explained the roars...
She'd usually face weird problems head-on, like she used to, but now she just wanted to rest. She'd grown rather weary of all the weird things in Gravity Falls, which was one of the reasons why she took this job Mr. Poolcheck had so graciously signed her up for. She walked over and started climbing the stairs, so she could see exactly what was going on at school. Never mind her earlier aversion to it.
Connie followed. "Let's just wait here for Steven to come back... maybe we'll see it on the news! but, in the meantime..." she adjusted her glasses, "I'd like to talk about Gravity Falls."
Wendy stiffened immediately. Her gaze grew cold and glossy. Her eyes stared at the television, but didn't take in anything.
"I... I feel like I've been in Gravity Falls before," the bespectacled girl admitted as she continued. "It's familiar... but I don't know. Wouldn't I remember if I've been there? it's like déjà vu or something..."
The redhead shook this off eventually. She shrugged once she took in what Connie had said, and tapped at her chin, "That's really strange..."
Connie nodded, "Definitely."
Wendy hummed with thought, staring at the television. She saw one glimpse of the Gem Monster and shuddered, before she reached down and turned off the television, having had enough of that.
"Maybe it'd be best if you did research into it... if only to solve this mystery..." she seemed to resign a little.
"Could you tell me about it, maybe?"
She sighed, and then went over to sit on the bed, moving the abandoned, empty breakfast plates aside. Wendy played a little with one of Steven's stuffed animals, almost smiling a little. She didn't really have a problem with talking about the town itself, but Weirdmageddon was the first thing she'd often think. So she began, "Well, it's a weird town. Weirder than this one, perhaps. Or just as weird. It had all sorts of supernatural creatures, the stuff of legend."
"Like what? the Loch Ness Monster?" asked Connie, as a sort of joke.
"Yes," Wendy stated simply. The joke wasn't a joke to her, and the brunette's eyes widened slightly as she realized that. "But weirder. Manotaurs instead of Minotaurs. They had gnomes though. And unicorns. And a multibear." She waved a hand, looking a little disturbed as she thought of but didn't say the names of the more unsavory creatures, "Lots of stuff."
"But wouldn't I remember that?" Connie scrunched up her face a bit, "all I seem to remember... is that it's a peaceful town with nice, albeit boring people..."
"Boring?" the redhead chuckled, "more like strange." She then hummed with thought, and eventually said, "We should head to the library. Maybe we'll find something that'll jog your memory."
Connie nodded, "It's right by the school too. We'll hear about what's going on, if we keep an ear out."
Wendy frowned immediately, but nodded also, "Yeah. Alright, man..."
A giant pink lion seemed to appear out of nowhere just then, hopping up to the attic.
"Hey, Lion!" Connie grinned and hugged the thing, who purred slightly.
Wendy jumped off the bed out of shock, for she wasn't expecting that. Her eyes widened for only a second, but the emotion was still written in her face. She eventually stammered out, "Uhh. Steven owns a lion. He..he owns a lion."
As if that was the weirdest thing she'd seen. But she was caught off guard.
"Yeah, I was surprised too," she climbed onto his back. "Get on! he's going to take us to the library!"
Wendy then smiled, and then got on as well. This certainly beat walking. She was expecting the lion to just get up and run them over there. Boy, she would be so wrong...
He began to bound around the room, over and over, faster and faster. Connie shouted, "Hold on!"
Though the redhead didn't need to be told this. Her eyes widened once more, and she held onto his fluffy mane. Eventually Lion roared, and a swirling vortex appeared, which he hopped through. A few seconds of traversing through the fabric of space later and they ended up next to the library. Connie hopped off like it was no big deal. The redhead, however, was completely pale and her hair was shooting straight up. She got off dizzily, almost collapsing, "Ugh... that was a trip, dude..."
"Yeah, sure was!" Connie realized Wendy was dizzy and did her best to help, putting an arm around her, supporting her.
"Thanks, man..." she slowly steadied herself, and looked around. She could, albeit with a blurry vision, see the school from here. It looked calm on the outside, but the news van and ambulances that were still out there said otherwise, and they could even see a few people getting loaded into said vehicles.
Connie looked concerned and horrified, and she frowned a bit, "Looks pretty rough, doesn't it?"
"Yeah... it does... I'm just glad the majority of the staff and students got out safely..." she slightly slurred, still dizzy as she leaned a little on Connie for support. Being as tall as she was for her age, this was hard.
Connie sat her down on the steps leading to the library, sighing, "I'm sorry about that—I should have warned you..."
"Bygones, man..." she mumbled, rubbing at her head. She glanced over at Lion, for once actually fazed. How did he have the power to do that?
"My mom's a doctor. She told me if you're dizzy, you should shake your head," the bespectacled girl suggested, unknowingly interrupting the redhead's thoughts.
Wendy blinked, but did as suggested, albeit gently. It actually seemed to work in ridding her of the dizzy spell, a little bit. She smiled, and stood up shakily, "Wow. Thanks, dude..! your mom's great with medical advice."
This made her feel sad inside. But she refused to show it. She had to be strong in this situation.
She nodded. "Thank you! so, why are we here at the library?" asked Connie, frowning now. She seemed to have forgotten.
"Gravity Falls," Wendy replied simply, taking her mind off her own mother. Her dizzy spell had mostly faded, so she could now stand without shaking and see without fail.
"Oh, right!" Connie ran up the stairs. The tall teenager followed her, not running because she was still a little woozy. She now took the time to try and fix her hair so that it didn't stick up straight anymore.
The girl pushed open the doors, and headed for the computers, sitting down at one of them and firing it up. Thankfully, it was just as fast as the school computers used to be. Wendy sat at the computer next to her and looked over her shoulder. She slightly shook her head again, sighing. She hoped Connie wouldn't accidentally stumble upon that event while searching up the town, but, with the Act that Mayor Cutebiker passed almost immediately after the event, the chances of that were pretty slim. And she was right. Thanks to the "Never Mind All That" Act, there wasn't a trace of weirdness seen of the town. Wendy sighed of relief, inwardly.
Connie scrolled through the photos, which displayed some of the various locations around town, including but not limited to Greasy's, one of the UFO-shaped valley, the town hall, the graveyard, a couple of the forest, and a few shots of the Mystery Shack. The brunette hummed with concentration. The redhead set and pressed her elbow into the chocolate wood of the table, her head leaning against her hand as she watched Connie do her research. Hopefully something would come back to her. And then her eyes widened as she finally realized the implications.
Connie kept scrolling. "It's like I've seen it before. And... something else." A flash of something dark red appeared before her mind's eye. And then... a sound. Like something warming up, some kind of machine. She shook her head, "I don't know..." and then sighed, moving to close the window, "Maybe this whole thing is a bust."
"Try harder," mumbled Wendy, furrowing her brow. This was the only explanation for it all. No other reason was as fitting as this one.
Connie did as said and kept scrolling. Pictures of a postcard displaying the Northwest Mansion as well as the statue, and then... a peculiar picture of a certain triangle they all knew. But she ignored it, dismissing it as something not really important to her current goal.
And then there were pictures of the mall, one of a map of the place. A library, a couple of a museum. But Connie didn't see those, having decided to give up and click the X. Wendy sighed, rubbing at her forehead and then running her hands through her hair. That society must have gotten to her. And to her family. Her eye twitched. But she decided to tear her mind away from that, frowning slightly at Connie giving up, "What's up?"
"It's futile. I can't find anything," she sighed, but began to wonder why there were so many pictures. She didn't realize they were all from one website, one blog.
"Try again, dude..." Wendy mumbled again, shaking her head once more, still trying to recover from the dizzy spell. "Maybe one of those pictures will trigger something." And then she thought of something, "Or, if you're lucky, you'll find a video."
That was the thing that had McGucket finally remember who he was. A video of his memories being played back. Traumatic and despairing though it was, it helped him a lot. So she thought it would help her. Though it obviously wouldn't be her exact memories.
Connie sighed, and shook her head. "I don't think I'll find anything... maybe I should just head home. Call it a day," she resigned with a shrug.
The redhead wouldn't stand for this. She set her hands down on the connected desk, frowning gently at Connie, and spoke evenly, "You'll never find anything if you give up. You don't strike me as a person to give up so easily anyway."
"I feel like this won't help, though. There's something missing..." she looked up at Wendy. "You know?"
She blinked, and hummed slightly, "Like maybe we're looking in the wrong place...? that wouldn't be too farfetched actually." She put a hand on her chin, stroking it a little.
"What do you mean by that?" Connie raised an eyebrow.
"What if we found some books? maybe there's some secret archive around here somewhere," she drifted off a little, looking towards the tall bookcases. But she wasn't exactly that serious with the "secret archive" thing.
The brunette sighed, "Alright."
The redhead got up, having finally made a full recovery, and started heading off towards the bookcases, frowning slightly. Connie followed, blinking slightly. "Do you have any idea what it could be?" she asked softly, looking up at Wendy.
She simply shrugged, heading for the Geography section. She'd never really been to this part of the library. She usually just stuck around the computers. On their way there, they passed the fantasy/science fiction sections. Wendy stopped and then backtracked. With Gravity Falls's reputation, it'd probably be in this section instead. So she walked down, eyeing the books on their shelves. Connie frowned. "Why are we looking in here?" she asked, starting to scan the shelves as well.
"Gravity Falls has a reputation for fantastic things, dude," she replied, leaning back against the bookcase behind her.
"Like, uh," she took a look at a random book, "the Loch Ness Monster?" she frowned, and then found a book about anomalies she was ninety-nine percent sure was nonfiction, therefore in the wrong section.
Wendy nodded, setting a foot on one of the shelves behind her, "Yep."
Connie was vaguely, if at all, surprised, staring back at Wendy now.
"I told you this before, man," the redhead frowned, and then slid her foot over a little, unknowingly hitting something, "but I can understand."
Something was triggered, and at the very end of the aisle a part of the wall was starting to collapse in on itself.
"This is entirely new to you, and the town itself is even weirder than this town," she didn't even notice, as she kept talking.
Connie, however, had noticed, and grew increasingly more interested in the wall than what Wendy was saying, but she was interested all the same. She replied with a question, "Really? how so?"
"Weirder things than Gem Monsters roam around," she explained, still not noticing. The bricks making up the wall closer to the floor soon became stairs, and clicked and clacked as each set themselves into the structure.
The bespectacled girl had a wave of déjà vu again, but didn't know why or where it was from. She responded again, trying hard to pay attention to the redhead, "Oh?"
"Yeah," she didn't feel like explaining this bit, for she already had. She began wondering whether the memory gun had anterograde amnesiac properties too. And then she looked towards the wall, and finally noticed, very nearly jumping back with shock. She really didn't think there would be a secret passageway here. But why would she be shocked? why didn't she expect it? had living here for the better half of a year made her forget what it was like to live in a place of mystery and secrets?
Connie wasted no time and began down the steps, intrigued by the path and what purpose it served. Wendy jumped again, eyes widening, and hurriedly followed her, warning her to be careful. With every step they took, torchlights on either side of them swooshed on so they could see properly. The brunette flew down the steps as fast she could, determined to understand what was going on here. The young redhead teenager, however, was much more careful about this, surprisingly. They both had no idea what was down there. She sped up just a little bit, though, and soon they finally found the end, and the torchlights here flickered on as well. It was a rather large, well-lit but dingy room with several tall bookcases, filled with tomes on almost every anomaly in the world, as far as she could tell—one of the bookcases was marked "The Bermuda Triangle", among a few other locations. Her eyes widened at this, and she scanned the room, whispering, "Woah..."
Connie was already by one of the bookcases. "It's like some sort of..." she didn't finish her sentence, too busy dusting off a book.
"Database of every weird thing?" Wendy finished pensively, eyes still wide. She walked towards one of the shelves, "I think so..."
The bespectacled brunette picked up another book. "Hey, this one's on Gems..." she muttered, wondering just who wrote these books, why, and why they were down here. If the person who wrote them, or people, had put them down here. She looked around for an answer or two.
Wendy picked up on the mutter, and her eyes widened further. Someone, or some people, must have had a lot of time on their hands... or maybe the person behind this all wasn't even a person to begin with. She gulped a little bit, and grabbed a book. This one was on a certain dream demon. This alarmed her somewhat. But, as curious as she was to read it now, she decided it'd have to wait. So she glanced around, and snuck the book into her inside jacket pocket, inwardly thanking herself for choosing to wear a jacket today.
Connie opened the pages, and blew off the dust. She flipped through them, cleaning them one by one, with hand or air. Wendy walked over to her and knelt down next to her, wondering what book she had gotten, if it wasn't the same book on Gems. The brunette didn't seem to notice Wendy, setting her book down for a moment to look at the other ones for anything better. The redhead sighed, standing up again, and walked around. She was reminded of what they came down here for in the first place. So she began searching for a book on Gravity Falls again.
Connie found some books, and sat down and started reading, right there, in the dim and dusty light. She muttered things as she read—"ooh" and "ahh", and "hmm" were the most common. The other girl chuckled, but coughed a little due to the dust in the air. She kept searching for a book, finger tracing and eyes scanning some of the spines. She had to pull out the books that hadn't had a title on their spines, however, but they weren't what she wanted despite being highly interesting. But she couldn't resist plopping down and reading through some of them. Connie continued reading, eyes wide. And so did Wendy, surprisingly enough. She'd obviously become quite the bookworm here in Beach City.
Suddenly, after a few minutes, there was a clicking sound, and the room darkened just a little. The same thing happened again, so Connie looked up, and saw two of the torches had been put out. Wendy also looked up, eyes widening. She had a bad feeling this would happen, but was wondering what it could be. She stood up and began making her way back over to Connie before it got too dark to see, cautiously quiet just in case something was listening for them.
Two more clicks. They seemed to be getting faster. Connie stood up, just then, the first book she found back in her hands now, and voiced her thoughts, "I think we should get going."
Wendy found the girl soon enough, and sighed of relief. She nodded, "Yeah, I think we should... have you found anything though?"
She hoped the answer was a yes. But they'd have to leave no matter what. She didn't want to know what would happen if all the torches went out while they were still down here.
"I think I'll just take the book with me," she said with a smile. Another two clicks. Connie headed for the stairs. Wendy nodded with understanding, and looked down at her own jacket. It was, surprisingly, not very bulky despite holding one very thick book. The redhead then followed the teenager, very quickly. It was becoming harder to see, and Connie's black hair and dark clothing didn't make it any better. The brunette ran up the steps. Four clicks this time. She was counting in her head, and her theory was right—they were getting faster.
Wendy also ascended the stairs at a quick gait, beside Connie now. She was sweating a little bit. Connie was sweating too, going higher and higher, now being unable to count the clicks. She could feel the darkness closing in on them, until she finally reached the light, the library above. Wendy also made it through, just in time. The wall fixed itself a few seconds later. She sighed, almost collapsing on the floor, "Man, that was a close one..."
Connie nodded, now staring at where the entrance used to be, "I wonder what that was, though..."
The redhead ran a hand through her hair, squinting a little, "Me too... I also wanna know who created it..."
She had a fleeting thought to tell Connie about the book she found, on Bill Cipher himself. But maybe that was something she should keep to herself. She had no idea what was in this book, and she honestly thought Bill had always been a murderous, psychotic psychopath. She didn't want Connie to get scarred.
Connie nodded. "And why it closed like that..." she looked around and saw the book that Wendy had pushed to make it open was now set back into place, probably by one of the librarians walking around. Wendy didn't notice this, her mind swimming in her thoughts. She kept staring at the fixed wall. Connie then pulled the book out, opening the door up again, and pushed it back, closing it again, "Well, I guess that's not a mystery anymore."
She blinked, and then sighed of relief. She thought something bad was happening. But, of course something bad would happen. If they got stuck down there... would anyone be able to hear them? and what if something was alive down there? it wouldn't be too farfetched. She nodded, "Yeah, and it's a relief, I suppose."
She put a hand on the book in her pocket for a moment, and then turned to Connie, finally. This didn't go unnoticed.
"So, you grabbed a book. What was it?" she asked, intrigued. The girl then held up her book on Gems, with which she was completely enamored.
Wendy started sweating, pursing her lips. She tried to think of a good lie. But how could she lie to Connie? sure, she could withhold or omit information, but lie? she frowned a little. She decided she'd take her chances, and then slowly pulled out the thick book and showed it to the girl. It was similar to the Journals in structure, but instead of a six-fingered hand on the cover, it was a certain triangular dream demon, and it had the Cipher Wheel circling him. She breathed out, "This..."
Connie looked upon it with wide-eyed curiosity. "Is that... Bill?" she knew she didn't need to ask, but she wanted to make sure.
She nodded, still holding the book out, "Yeah, it's Bill, alright..."
Wendy seemed a lot stiffer now, and terser too. Connie put her own book away, and took this one. She stared at the cover intensely, before she flipped it over to the back, which had a small blurb that read, "The tale of Bill Cipher, now in book form."
But other than that, nothing. Nothing except intricate designs engraved below the blurb that maybe not even the Gems would know about. Wendy stared at her, gripping and rubbing at her arm, biting her bottom lip. Connie looked up at the redhead, finally, "So... what all is going on between you and Bill? what happened there?"
She stiffened, gulping a little bit. She had to remain strong. She couldn't tell her about Weirdmageddon. So maybe... she soon sighed, sitting down finally, back up against the bookcase, "I can't tell you about that, Connie... but what I can tell you is that... well, he's not a very savory dude... you and Steven should be careful around him..."
There. She said it. She said it. It was vague, but it was what she could tell her without getting into details.
There was some silence. Before... "Did you date him or something? is that what this is about?" Connie asked, frowning, wanting to know what exactly had happened.
Wendy frowned at her disapprovingly, and shook her head slowly. Hell to the no.
"Then what is it? what happened?" she continued to press, eyebrows raised.
"I can't tell you... it's grisly..." and then she covered her mouth. Already she thought she said too much.
The brunette barely grimaced, but it was noticeable. "O-okay. But could I take this book, and study it?" she asked, staring at the book, and then looked up at Wendy. "You wouldn't have to tell me then. It'd probably be in here, right?"
Wendy sighed, and shrugged, "Sure... but I'm actually also quite interested in it... perhaps we could read it together?"
She nodded, excited now. "We could have, like, a study session. It'd be lots of fun!" she smiled, even though a nearby librarian shushed her.
The redhead smiled, "Definitely!"
A nearby librarian, the same one actually, also shushed her, and the girl frowned then. She then remembered once again why they went down there, and voiced it quietly, "Did you find anything on Gravity Falls though?"
She frowned. "I think I saw a book down there about it. But going down there..." she scrunched up her face, "it reminded me of something..." and then she suddenly gasped, face relaxing and eyes widening, "Oh."
Wendy raised both her eyebrows, and became a little anxious, "What? what is it?"
"I remember now. I've been in Gravity Falls before, and I saw... a multiheaded bear, in the forest! and then they... someone made me forget...?" she asked, frowning, unsure, staring now at the floor.
"The multibear..." Wendy muttered. And then she nodded vigorously, hopping back up onto her feet, "Yes. They did. The Blind Eye..."
She figured now would be a good time for Connie to finally know the culprits' name. She, after all, remembered everything now. Connie looked up, eyes narrow with confusion, "The Blind Eye? what's that?"
"A secret society. More like a cult. They erased memories of the supernatural, and also of things people would rather forget..." her frown deepened as she explained. As well-intentioned as they were, the town had suffered a lot in the area of competence because of them, and none of them could ever face their mistakes and what they feared. It was just a cycle, repeating over and over again, because they kept forgetting the history. Thank goodness she, Soos, McGucket and the twins discovered it and ended it. She couldn't bear to think what would happen if they were allowed to continue. And yet she found herself thinking about it...
Connie pursed her lips, taking it all in. "So how do you remember them?" she asked, wondering why Wendy knew so much about them if they were known to erase memories.
"Because my friends and I encountered their secret base... we managed to get out unscathed, and we put an end to their operation," she sighed, gripping at her hands. She allowed a small, victorious smile to flit upon her lips, however.
"Wow..." Connie was pretty impressed, having stars in her eyes.
And then that smile grew. Wendy suddenly got an idea, and voiced that too, "Say, you wanna go grab a pizza?"
She figured they were done here. Connie had her memories back. And that was specifically why they had come. But.. maybe.. just maybe, they'd figure that secret, underground library out later. The brunette nodded, adjusting her glasses, "Sure thing—and you probably wanna hold onto this," and passed her the book on Bill.
The redhead nodded, and then grabbed the book, slipping it back into her inside pocket. She'd wanted it back for a while now. Connie then smiled and began walking to the entrance of the library. Wendy chuckled and followed her, eventually descending down the steps along with her newfound friend. They didn't see Lion anywhere, so that meant they'd have to walk all the way to Fish Stew Pizza. But that was completely alright with them.
A/N: And that's the close to that cliffhanger. :3 I hope you enjoyed. Again, Ace had Lion and Connie, and she was wonderful at her, and I had Wendy. I hope we stayed true to their characteristics. But then again, this is an AU. But, now you know why and how Wendy is in Beach City. And lots of other things. XD Also, there are a few references in here, one of which is actually pretty blatant and central to this particular chapter. I wonder if you can spot them.
And, going completely off the timeline, but this is what I had said when I posted this chapter elsewhere, on August 14th: "I think this next episode is actually going to be on the library, actually... not the school. But either way, we'll get the name and the structure! and that book mentioned? I'm in the process of writing it. And the blog mentioned, Ace said, belongs to her other OC, Tony Determined. XP"
Said library looks almost nothing like the one we described. But this is an AU, after all, and this chapter was roleplayed long before the episode, Buddy's Book, was even thought about, and this entire story before Summer of Steven. The book I mentioned only has one chapter and a half, after all this time, because I had stopped for various reasons, writer's block and ideas switching up included... but I promised myself that after Ace and I finished this here story, that I'll pick it back up again. So yeah, I hope you enjoyed that fine piece of information behind the scenes! and most importantly, the chapter itself. And with that, I shall see you either Sunday or next Thursday!