"From what you've said about the Beldam, I think something like this might work" Dipper said, holding out his yellow legal pad to display the sigil he had been working on,

Wybie sighed and looked up, his head resting lazily on his hand- he had no idea what sigils really were, let alone what they could do or how one would be better suited for a situation than another. "Based on what?"

He shrugged and put the paper down once more, "How powerful she is? What kind of magic she uses? Stuff like that"

For a moment, neither spoke, they just sat and stared at one another. Mabel looked between the two of them and frowned,

"Let's say for instance, that it would work-" the taller boy began, "-how close would we actually have to get to use it on her?",

Dipper's cheeks flared pink and his gaze fell to the table, "She'd have to enter it?" he said, wincing.

Wybie groaned and rolled his eyes, "This is useless!"

"At least we've got something!" Mabel said quickly, her tone as bright and optimistic as ever, "It's better than nothing, we just need to keep reading, I'm sure we'll figure something out",

Neither of the boys said anything in return, but at least they weren't back to arguing,

"Pass me journal three again" Wybie said with a huff, holding out his hand to take it,

The other frowned but passed the book over all the same, "Can you go over the story once more?"

"Seriously?!" he snapped, letting the journal land on the table with a thump, "We've gone through it a dozen times, and you've written it down twice. What more could you possibly get from it?"

Dipper didn't answer, he only gave Wybie a cool stare in response,

He sighed, "Coraline moved into the Pink Palace, she didn't think much the place, didn't even find it that weird at first- except for the neighbours, I guess. Pretty quickly she found the well, she'd been using a divining rod and nearly fell into the damn thing, that's when I met her" the boy paused, licking his lips nervously at the thought of what happened next- it had all been his fault of course. "That evening, I- I was in the attic, I was trying to find some old pictures of the Palace or something. I figured Coraline might be interested-"

"Instead you found the doll" Mabel said softly, looking up from the doodle of a voodoo doll she had drawn,

"Yeah" Wybie replied, "It looked just like Coraline, even down to the clothes, they were the same as what she was wearing when I met her. I thought she'd think it was cool or something, so I dropped it off at her apartment. Her mom gave it to her for me, but Mel probably doesn't remember that"

Dipper nodded, noting something down in his scratchy handwriting, "And then she found the door, right? With a little guiding from the doll?"

"Yeah, but it was behind wallpaper. She got her mom to unlock it, but then found that it was bricked up too anyway-"

"Maybe the entrance isn't open during the day" the other said, cutting him off again, "Or maybe, it's adults- those most unlikely to believe in the supernatural- maybe they're the ones who the entrance can't be revealed to!"

"It doesn't matter either way, they bricked it up again themselves a year later, remember?" he said loudly,

Dipper frowned, "I guess, you're probably right… although a sledgehammer is always an option of course"

Wybie gave him a warning look, telling him to steer away from that sort of thinking, "Anyway, that night Coraline found the door open, the jumping mice led her to it, or at least the Beldam's jumping rats in their mice suits" he then slumped further into his seat, and his eyes fell back on journal three and it's smudgy, frantic writing, "Don't make me go through the rest again"

"But-"

"Yeah, I mean ghosts, mice circus', naked lady opera's, talking cats and treasure hunts- we get the picture" Mabel said quickly, speaking before her brother could continue his complaint.

"Don't forget the garden with living plants, the other Wybie who couldn't talk and the space behind the mirror" he said, clearly biting his tongue from saying more,

"I guess it is a lot to go over" she admitted.

Wybie sighed and flipped through the pages of the journal aimlessly, watching as the accounts he had already read twice over flicked into view. It was only when he got to some of Dipper's newer pages that he stopped, his eyes skimming the blue inked words and familiar black symbols.

Of course, all of what he read was well-known to him, and not just because he had gone over it before, but because the new journal author had told him about it himself.

There were probably a dozen other pages that at least mentioned this particular entity in one way or another throughout all three journals, but Dipper had been the one to unite the notes, fitting as much as he could across a two-page spread.

Wybie frowned and took up his own notepad, marking down a few notes and sketching a hasty map that he copied straight from the page, "I'm going to slip out for a second, I think I need a change of scenery to get everything straight in my head" he said, standing from the desk and tossing his jacket over his shoulder.

The other boy looked at him, his eyes wide, "Oh yeah, that sounds like a good idea, I'll come with" he replied, making to get up as well,

"No!" he snapped, holding out a hand to stop him, "You'll make me go through that damn story again and we'll probably end up arguing some more"

Mabel nodded at her brother and a look of guilt briefly flickered across his face,

"You're probably right" he agreed quietly, "Go ahead, just make a note of anything you think of"

"Will do" Wybie said with a nod, "Back in a bit" and with that, he rushed from the room, eager to get his new bad idea over and done with.

Dipper frowned and looked down at the sigil he had drawn, realising how circumstantial the situation would need to be for it to become useful,

"Cheer up Dip-stick" his sister said brightly, "I thought it was a really cool sigil-thingy"

He smiled sadly at her- that definitely didn't make him feel better about it, but at least she was trying, even if she didn't know what she was talking about. "Thanks" he said weakly.

Mabel's expression soon curved into a frown once she realised that nothing that she had said thus far had cheered her brother up. She looked instead to the 'notes' she had been making, which were in fact a page of colourful doodles.

Along with her little graphic of a very traditional looking voodoo doll (all button eyes and stitched together limbs), she'd drawn a large pumpkin with glasses, a dog with angel wings, a halo and a harp, a reverse mermaid with a fish head and lady's legs, several mice, dragon flies and cats, as well as a couple of happy little ghosts.

The girl paused and looked up, the end of her pen tapping rapidly against her legal pad as a thought started to form in her mind, "Hey Dipper?"

"Hmm?" he replied, snapping journal two closed,

"Where's your phone?"

Dipper's brow furrowed, "What? My Phone? Why?"

"I need to borrow it" she replied, sitting up in her chair and reaching across the desk, her hand open expectantly just inches from her brother's face.

"Why don't you use your own?"

Mabel rolled her eyes, "Waddles ate my charger again, obviously"

The boy eyed her closely for a long moment before sighing and fishing his mobile phone out of his pocket, "Don't go snooping"

"Whatever Dip-Dip" she said, rolling her eyes and taking it. She unlocked the device quickly and navigated to the contacts list, scrolling through the few names there were until she found who she was looking for. A smile on her face, she pressed the call button and brought the phone to her ear, listening to the other line ringing.

Dipper's eyes widened, "Hey, what're you-"

She brought a hand up to cut him off, her grin growing wide, "Hellooo?- Yes, it's Mabel!"

Her brother watched as she stood from the table and began from the room, more and more worried by the thought of who she could be calling as the micro-seconds ticked by.

0o0o0

Wybie's map drawing skills weren't the best, but he at least thought he'd done a good enough job to find what he was looking for- although it was difficult to tell honestly. The forest all looked the same to him, not even funny branch formations or particularly interesting moss patterns stood out, unlike how they did for Pines twins apparently.

The kinds of landmarks Dipper had used to help guide the way didn't actually help much at all, in all honesty- it had been a few years since the original map had been drawn and even the notable boulders and rocks had changed a little, at least compared to how they had been originally described.

Regardless, the teenager felt like he was going the right way, and weirdly (although he was sure he knew why), that was enough for him.

All the same, whether his gut or self-confidence was encouraging him or not, he stopped after only ten minutes for a break, his frustration induced steam having run out.

Wybie sighed and came to sit on an old tree stump, the heals of his boots crushing through the powdery, rotten roots of the thing.

He knew this was a terrible idea, but it was his terrible idea and he was sticking to it, he would even face any and all consequences that could come his way because of it. If it helped them get Coraline back, that was all that mattered. Anyway, if he was right and got his way, he'd work around whatever consequences there would be and everything would be fine, and they'd get Coraline back and she and he would-

Wybie sighed again and let himself fall back against the tree stump, his chest deflating- it was almost big enough for him to lie down on, with his feet still on the ground of course.

If he closed his eyes tightly and thought about it, really thought about it, he could still feel her lips against his. He could smell her funny perfume and hear the noises she had made that night.

If he had had these thoughts about her just a week earlier and she had known he was thinking them, known he was thinking about her in that way, Coraline would've annihilated him, just torn him to shreds and left him whimpering in a well of his own self-pity.

Maybe now it would be different though, maybe now after all that had happened, he was allowed to like her like that. Maybe he was allowed to like-like her.

He bit his lip and shook his head, he was probably thinking about it too much, he was probably taking it too seriously too. Wybie had to face it, maybe, just maybe, he'd been nothing more than a warm body, Coraline's last hurrah before she gave up on this world altogether. Either way, the idea left him sick to his stomach.

Having slipped his hands into his pockets, Wybie struggled to sit up again, once he had however, he slumped, his back arched into a crooked hunch. His eyes searched over the trees, cautious but mostly disinterested.

Dipper had mentioned a creature called 'The Hide Behind' a few times, warning him that going out alone into the forest was not always a good idea- 'when you looked out into the trees, sometimes the trees looked back at you', he said.

Part of him felt that if he was ever going to see The Hide Behind, now would probably be the time, mostly because he was specifically looking for something else. Knowing his luck though, he concluded that the creature probably was in fact lurking somewhere behind him currently, hence the name. He checked his peripherals briefly, looking for flashes of movement, but found nothing.

Wybie sighed, he knew he was procrastinating now, trying to find a justifiable reason to be distracted, but he also knew that no excuse would ever be enough.

He hoisted himself to his feet and regarded his map again, finding that he was perhaps only another ten minutes or so away from his destination. With a sigh he began to walk once more, half-heartedly keeping an eye out for the dozens of beings he had read about in the journals as he went.

He couldn't believe that this was the sort of thing Dipper busied himself with on the daily: walking around the cold forest, often finding nothing that would warrant a rare note to be added to his compendium. He had even enrolled at Mt Hood Community College to take a forestry class, telling several career advisors as he did that it was his intention to become a park ranger. In truth, he did it so that one day he could dedicate the entirety of his time to wandering about in the forest, whilst also getting paid for it. The money wasn't all that important to Dipper of course, but it would certainly help in the long run.

Wybie supposed that it was a good thing really, the boy having an idea of what he wanted to do with his life. Wybie himself had only gotten as far as working as an apprentice at a local mechanics a year and a half ago- now he pretty sure that he would be working there for the rest of his life, getting no further away from his home in Ashland than maybe Seattle, as Coraline had dragged him there a couple of times over the years. Other than that, he'd never been anywhere out of state.

Soon, the trees started to get closer together, the canopy overhead becoming a denser shield blocking out the sun. The teenager had thought it was dark before, but now it was more like the trees surrounding the well; it was grey, noticeably colder and so quiet that he became uncomfortably aware of his own heartbeat. Wybie even thought that he caught sight of his own breath hanging in the air, pale and wispy, as though it were winter and cold.

Somewhere in the distance, in a clearing between the black branches of trees and the dark foliage, he could see a stream of cold light cutting through the bleak, stifling air; steeling himself, he began towards the light, knowing instinctively that it was where he was meant to be heading to.

The path seemed to become easier underfoot as he walked on, guiding him quickly and securely towards the light. The closer he got, the warmer he felt, however the feeling of being watched also grew with each step. Wybie felt as though the beam of light was being cast from a giant magnifying glass just out of the sight, like the kind that children used to burn ants in the sun.

In the still of the small clearing it was stood in, each individual speck of dust passing though the column light could be picked out. They spun and swirled like a murmuration of birds, and after almost a minute had passed, the teenager realised that he had actually stopped in place just to watch the dust dance.

He shook his head, dispersing a kind of dizziness that he hadn't realised had settled over him, resting in his eyes.

Really, he supposed that he should have anticipated this sort of thing; the odd gut feeling he had, the strange, almost unnatural beam of light in the clearing, even his mixed-up sense of attention and priorities. Something was trying to trick him, trying to distract him into making a bad decision- he didn't need any of that though, he had been heading here of his own volition in the first place and didn't require anymore convincing.

Wybie's eyes followed the column of light from where it broke through the canopy down to the ground. It was pointing to his destination, like the aim in some classic video game, like the kind that Neil made them play.

He stepped over a thick tree root that marked a fresh hold and waded through the sea of ferns that sprouted high over the forest floor- he was a tall guy, over six foot in fact, but these wild things nearly came up to his waist. He was sure that there had to be all kinds of crap covering his boots and jeans now, not that it really mattered, it would just be typical of the kind of day it was.

The teenager stopped at the centre of the clearing, now about a foot away from the cold, harsh beam of light.

He was staring at a small stone hand that was protruding from the bushes, cast in the spotlight like an actor on stage. He was daring it to move, although he knew it wouldn't- that wouldn't be possible, not until he made contact with it.

He sighed, finally dragging his gaze away from the inanimate appendage and letting it fall to his own hand instead.

Coraline made fun of his trusty old skeleton gloves constantly- of course the ones he wore now weren't the exact pair he had owned when they met, he'd grown out of those years ago, but they were similar enough, and as such they were ripe for ridicule apparently.

Wybie ignored the onslaught of memories revolving around Coraline's laugh, and went instead to tug his gloves off, leaving his long hands bare and instantly colder- he'd always had poor circulation, now was no exception.

Holding his breath, he reached forward, taking into his grip the petit, stone hand and wincing as his stomach dropped and the muggy sweat of anxiety swept across his forehead. He felt like a sickness had overcome him suddenly, he was cold and running a fever, his limbs felt weak and his eyes twinged sorely in the light.

"Crossbones! I should've seen you coming!"

0o0o0

Wybie awkwardly caught himself from tripping, as he finally stepped back out onto the lawn surrounding The Mystery Shack an hour later. He frowned and shoved his hands deep into his pockets, his chin receding into the collar of his jacket as he made his way around to the back of the cabin style house.

Dipper and Mabel were sitting on the porch as he approached, and he nearly stumbled at the sight of them, worried suddenly that they were waiting for him.

Mabel looked beside herself with joy however, while her brother looked red faced and embarrassed about something; neither were saying anything, they didn't even speak when they saw Wybie heading towards them.

"Hey guys" he began, coming to a stop a few feet away from them, his eyes shifting between them, "What's going on?"

Dipper sighed and lumbered his head from his hands where it had been resting- he looked to his sister, clearly expecting her to answer the question,

"I called in come back up!" she replied, speaking proudly,

He licked his lips nervously and once more his eyes darted their gaze between them, "What do you mean?"

"I thought we could do with some extra help! I mean we weren't finding anything"

"I could've figured something out if you had given me a little more time!" Dipper insisted, "I'm sure I was almost onto something"

She rolled her eyes at him, "Sure you were Dip-o-matic"

The other Pines twin shook his head in response, but didn't say anything else, clearly quite bitter about the whole situation.

"Oh come on! You're just nervous because-"

"I am not nervous" her brother snapped, cutting her off midsentence, "I'm not nervous" he then reiterated, now looking to Wybie again, as if trying to convince him (it wasn't working, the shade of red that his face was burning was too vibrant to deny), "I really think I could've worked something out with a little more time" he paused and gave a defeated sort of shrug, "But extra help is probably a good thing, I guess we were having a little trouble coming up with a plan, at the very least a fresh pair of eyes might see something we don't"

Mabel nodded, "That's more like it!" she cried, jumping closer to Dipper and throwing an arm around him, "I knew you'd be excited to see him! After all, you do have a massive crush on-"

"So who's coming then?" Wybie asked, now speaking over Mabel for her brother sake.

She realised what he was doing and pouted, although Dipper gave him a relieved, appreciative look,

"Out resident ghost expert of course"

0o0o0

"Crossbones! I should've seen you coming"

Wybie shielded his eyes against the burning flare of blue flame which now surrounded him, the forest having gone black and still beyond it. He dropped his arm and strained his eyes, his gaze now meeting with the singular eyeball entombed in a yellow brick pyramid which was floating in the air before him. "Bill is it?"

"It certainly is Crossbones, how many interdimensional beings do you know that look like this?" he replied, his garbled voice just as Dipper had described it, "Now what do want? I'm a very busy guy, you know?" he asked, gliding through the scorched, muggy air and coming to a stop right in front of the teenager,

"I'm here to make a deal" he said, grimacing,

Bill's one eye widened, "Really? I would never have seen that coming!"

Wybie felt like the entity was mocking him, but he chose to ignore it, "Do you know anything about the Beldam?"

"Old Button Eyes? Sure, I know that hag. Giving you trouble, is she? Back to her old tricks?"

"Are you strong enough to defeat her?"

The triangle paused at that and actually seemed to think on it, "Yeah! I mean, she's not all that, not even that strong anymore"

He licked his lip thoughtfully and took a step forward, "You'll help us then? You help us beat her, and in exchange I can give you what you want"

His eye narrowed and he swooped a few feet off to the left, gaining some more space between them, "How do you know what I want Crossbones?"

"Dipper told me"

"Ahh, of course, Pinetree is still meddling in my business, I bet he's told you everything about me" the entity then folded his arms and pouted- or at least seemed to, "I bet he told you to stay away from me too, so I gotta wonder, what's so important that you need my help?"

Wybie stared at him for a long moment -he was quite sure that making direct eye contact was probably a bad idea, but he couldn't help it- "My friend is in danger, I want to get her back"

"Which friend?" the triangle asked, "Is it Dragonfly by any chance? Your lady friend?"

The teenager didn't respond.

He took a deep breath after a minute had passed and began once more, sure that his silence had been enough the answer the question, "If you help us, I'll give you a puppet, a form to inhabit", he concluded by extending his hand again, offering it.

Bill's arm stretched far beyond its regular length, reaching out to snatch the appendage, but the boy moved it at the last moment, holding it safely against his chest,

"On one condition"

The entity once more gave him a suspicious look, "Okay Crossbones, let's talk business"