Disclaimer: I do not own GF.
Told you it would be a long chapter.
Welcome to the beginning of the end.
~~0~~0~~0~~
Stan ground his teeth together as he threw all his will into what he was doing. The sigil beneath his hands- the one on the far right wall- glowed an even brighter purple than before, though not enough to wash away the crimson light.
Sweat dribbled down Stan's brow as he tried to focus all his energy through his hands and into the wall before him, his narrowed eyes tracing the runes scored deeply into the concrete over and over again. His tongue flicked the roof of his mouth as Crimean Gothic flowed past his lips, rough as always. The words repeated over and over again, a macabre mantra to herald what was to come.
Finally, Stan finished up his chant as the sigil beneath his hands flashed in rapid succession. First blue, then cyan, all the way past green, yellow, orange, red, magenta, and back to the purple from before, settling in it's static color and dulling back down as it had been before.
Stan's legs trembled beneath him and it took all his strength to keep from collapsing right there on the floor. Shaking violently, he raised a single clammy hand to his forehead, wiping the pooled sweat there that had collected between his wrinkles.
He was old. Much to old to be doing this. But it wasn't like he had a choice in the matter.
He would bring him back. No matter what.
Huffing deep breaths in and out, Stan took a moment to stabilize himself before turning back around and making his way back to the alter, hoping that this next step finally worked.
Ninth times the charm, right?
Stan grinned at the sight he saw.
The previous bleached bones, connected by shining ligaments could no longer be seen. Instead, newly formed muscles and veins twined around key parts of the body. Fresh skin sprouted, pale and sharp. Dark brown hair grew from all aspects of the body; legs, arms, chest, stomach, and groin. Stan's eyes were drawn to the person's closed orbs. Nothing moved in the body. No pulse, no breath, no flutter, no life.
Despite everything, he still had work to be done. The final process.
But for now...rest. Rest would be good.
~~0~~0~~0~~
Dipper chewed the end of his pen in thought, staring out the window with a blank look.
Homework. The bane of every kid's existence.
Pulling out his notes again, Dipper flipped through the Latin words, trying his best to translate them to the best of his ability.
Normally, this sort of thing wasn't too hard. He had taken to the dead language surprisingly well, though whether it was because of his own interest or if he was simply naturally inclined to new languages was beyond him. Nevertheless, this sort of thing shouldn't be as hard as it was being.
Dipper briefly took his pen out of his mouth to scribble a few notes on his homework before returning it to his mouth to chew on again.
He focused on the work for a few more seconds before being distracted by the window again.
Well, not quite the window. More like the forest to be exact.
Though it was only a few days ago, it felt like a lifetime since Dipper promised to break Bill out of the forest on Sunday.
Which happened to be today.
After that fateful day in the woods, time seemed to speed past him faster and faster, never letting go.
He was lucky to have not been caught. Didn't want that on his record. Or worse, explain what he was doing to Stan.
Dipper squared his shoulders. Sunday. One of the two days the shop wasn't open, mainly because Stan hated Mondays and needs a day "to prepare for them." Dipper wasn't so sure what that even really meant as usually all Stan did on his days off was watch a lot of television and stuff his face with food.
Then again, there were worse ways to spend your days off.
Dipper glanced over the empty side of the room, biting his lip. Dinner the other night had broken his and Mabel's vow of silence towards another by simply asking to pass the salt. Despite that, things were far from being normal. They never joked around or played and barely seeing one another day in an day out wasn't helping much. Dipper didn't realize how far they seemed to grow apart until this deafening silence.
Mabel still went out with friends every day. Or she played with Waddles. Or she sat down and knit while listening to the radio and singing along.
All things Dipper couldn't be a part of.
Then again, all he was doing was sitting and doing homework and...well, that was about it. He still wasn't sure how Mabel was still able to do many of the things she loved after being grounded.
Probably because she had more hobbies.
Dipper frowned. He was only allowed to read an hour a day and after that...well, an hour of television as well and then the rest of the day consisted of studying or homework.
Dipper chewed harder on his pen and leaned on his hand, staring back out at the pine forest once more. The sky was heavy with green clouds. Looks like a storm was coming.
Today was the day.
Dipper slowly stood up and pushed his chair back into place. He wasn't so sure how long this would take or anything of the sort, but it was best to get it over with soon even if it was still early in the morning.
Glancing around the room, Dipper quickly stuffed his note book into his vest pocket, along with his pen. After a few more seconds, he added his deer teeth necklace. It was still really weird and kinda gross in a moral sense, but Bill had given it to him specially and it was clean...
Tugging his cap lower on his face, the brunet crept outside his door, grateful it was already open. Once again, he hopped floorboard to floorboard, dodging all the known squeaks and creaks as he made his way to the top of the stairs. Now more than ever, he couldn't be caught.
He had been caught the first time when he first took the third journal. Then the second for real when Wendy saw him go into the woods. A third time would not be ideal in the slightest.
Especially with what was at stake here. He promised Bill he would free him today.
Dipper worried the inside of his cheek as he went stair to stair, trying to keep his weight forward and focused on his knees instead of his feet in a bid to somehow make himself lighter, at least in feeling.
There was a part of him that still wasn't sure about all of this. Bill was locked up for a reason. A pretty good reason too. Was letting him out really the best idea? Gods were highly dangerous, everyone knew that. So what if he was stripped of his powers as the story said? He could still obviously do many different feats of magical prowess and if freed...well, who was to say he wouldn't go back to old habits?
Who said he hadn't been lying?
Dipper shook those thoughts of doubts away. Bill had told him that he didn't desire to harm the world anymore and not only that, looked completely sincere when he said that. Besides, he wouldn't hurt him and Dipper knew that didn't just mean physical hurt, but mental as well as emotional.
Right?
Right.
Besides, Bill had changed. Dipper couldn't say he knew Bill seven hundred years ago, but comparing those old stories to the person he hung out with and cared about and who cared back, Dipper could tell that those seven hundred years, Bill had become a different person. God. Being. Whatever.
He had become better.
It was long time for him to be free. Bill didn't deserve seven hundred years of boredom and loneliness.
Right?
No one did.
Dipper finally reached the bottom step and carefully jumped down. He held his breath as his shoes lightly thumped, waiting for a suspicious Stan or a curious Mabel to show up and question what he was doing.
No one came.
Sighing breath of relief through his nose, Dipper carefully turned his head to peak into the living room, trying to see if Stan was in their or not.
Stan was lying across his favorite couch, empty bottle of beer in his hand, snoring away while Baby Fights blared in the background.
Dipper felt his shoulders loosen some. Stan was a very heavy sleeper. If he was out like this, not even a natural disaster could wake him.
Though he didn't see Mabel anywhere, he could clearly hear the blare of the radio over Baby Fights, playing another one of Mabel's boy bands. Dipper was a little ashamed of himself when he recognized that it was Sev'ral Timez.
Seeing as both of them were busy off in their own world, Dipper wasted no time diving into the shop, still careful to only step on the non-creaky boards as he made his way to a window that happened to be opened.
After all, the door was too loud and he didn't want to take any chances whatsoever. Mabel had sharp ears and though Stan was a deep sleeper, he could still wake up at anytime.
Dipper hoped that this wouldn't take too long. He really, really hoped.
Moving the chair Wendy kept behind the counter over to the thankfully already opened window, Dipper carefully pushed it against the wall and climbed up on top. Double checking to make sure no one was around, he slipped one leg through, then the other, twisting his body so he was sitting facing the outside. With one more sigh through his nose, he pushed himself off and away, ducking his head low as to not hurt himself. He partially fell in his movements, legs not quite catching himself and rolling a little on the short grass.
Rubbing his now sore ankles and grumbling under his breath a bit, Dipper pushed himself into a standing position and quickly checked his legs and arms for any signs of injury.
Finding nothing, the brunet did another check behind him before taking off at a run to the woods, trying to keep his steps from falling too hard in an attempt to lessen the shocks of pain in his ankles and making too much noise.
Ducking under a low hanging branch, Dipper didn't slow down until he was well into the forest, the Shack no longer in sight. Leaning against a nearby tree, Dipper took a few seconds to catch his breath and wince at the shallow cuts in his legs. He hadn't been careful whatsoever while running through the underbrush and as such, got cut up pretty badly. Luckily, the tears in his skin were shallow and only allowed a few beads of blood to well and fall, no doubt staining his socks a little and causing his skin to itch.
"Bill? You there?" Dipper called out once he got his gasping lungs under control. Like usual, Bill slid into his field of vision right away, bright against the low tones of the forest, golden eye and hair sparkling under the morning sun, looking as dapper as ever.
"Heya, Pine Tree! You're here early aren't ya? Already missing me I see!" Bill greeted cheerfully, no trace of anger to be found.
Dipper chuckled at the god, a blush already dusting his cheeks. "You could say that I guess." He replied, scratching at his right leg again as another droplet of blood made it's slow descent down.
Bill frowned when he saw his sapling's condition. He swaggered forwards, lightly brushing his fingertips against the boy's skin, healing him instantly.
Dipper grinned up at the god and tentatively wrapped his arms around Bill's hips in a light hug, marveling how the itching stopped immediately, along with the pain in his ankles.
Bill, of course reciprocated and even even bent down to plant a slightly sloppy and wet kiss on his cheek, causing the brunet to jump back with a sound torn between a laugh and a noise of disgust.
"Ew! That was like, all slobber!" Dipper whined playfully.
Bill laughed and summoned his cane into existence to swing it around his wrist. "Good!" He said back.
Dipper shook his head. He'd never understand Bill's humor, would he?
"So Pine Tree, ready to break your favorite god out of prison?" Bill asked, sending the boy a wink.
Dipper shook his head, smiling lightly and ignoring the knots in his stomach. "That's what I said I'd do, right? Lead the way."
Bill grinned and wrapped his arms around his Pine Tree's shoulders, forcing the brunet to stumble forward in a close embrace.
"I won't be able to directly transport us there, so we'll have to walk some, okay?
Dipper nodded. "That's fine. Ready when you are."
Bill tsked and shook his head. "I've been ready for the past however many years I've been here, Pine Tree."
And with that, the two absconded in a flash of azure flames.
~~0~~0~~0~~
Mabel clacked her knitting needles together in time with the record, muttering the song lyrics under her breath. She had been up for a few hours knitting a new sweater, one that would hopefully fix everything.
The yarn was the softest she had and was a light brown color- like freshly turned soil right in spring after a nice shower. It was a warm color that matched Dipper's hair color perfectly.
Then again, this sweater had to be perfect in every sense of the word.
She hadn't realized how painful it was without her favorite twin at her side. There were no more jokes between them, no games, no laughter, no teasing, no pranks, no fun, and no words.
Well, not counting her asking Dipper to pass the salt, at the very least.
For once in her young life, Mabel wasn't so sure on how to patch everything up and she knew very well that if she was confused about what to do with the lingering tenseness, then Dipper's head must be spinning at a billion miles per hour.
So, she decided to do the thing she does best: Make fabulous sweaters.
Mabel stuck her tongue out as she knitted the green into the brown. This was far different than anything else she had done before. For once, this sweater wasn't silly. For once, she was seriously hoping with all her heart that Dipper would actually like it and wear it because of that.
As she knitted, she hoped that this could help patch things up between her and him. She didn't know what she would or could do if it didn't. Barely a week has gone by without her twin and already her heart was twisting itself up in loneliness. She hated this feeling and hated the heavy sadness that came with it.
She just wanted everything to go back to normal or at least, as normal as things could now get.
Mabel paused in her knitting to take a metaphorical step back to look over her work so far.
The entire sweater was over-sized, soft, and warm, perfect for cuddling him. The entire thing was a little bit bland, pure brown besides the very bottom where a pine forest stretched about the entirety of the bottom hem, taking up about a third of the sweater vertically. Inside each and every tree was the painful stitching of her trying to knit in each and every pine needle with each and every branch.
Mabel gave her work a watery smile before starting on the last pine tree. Dipper was going to love this.
Hopefully.
He had too.
Mabel couldn't say she knew much about forests, but that one time in the woods left a definite impression on her and living so near the famous place gave her enough of an example to go off of.
Briefly pausing in her work to flip the record around, Mabel started humming to the beat of the song lightly as she finished up another small branch, a little bit of nervous sweat pooling on her forehead.
"Ugh, Mabel? What are you doing?" A familiar, throaty voice asked, still heavy with a bit of sleep.
Mabel glanced up at her Grunkle Stan, who had crashed in his suit and was now looking more disheveled than usual. His hair was a rats nest without his infamous fez and his glasses were slightly askew.
"Nothing. Just making Dipper a sweater." She replied pleasantly, not taking her focus off her work.
Stan cocked a curious eyebrow at that. As far as he knew, Mabel almost never made sweaters for her brother and when she did, they were usually part of some joke the kid would splutter angrily about before tossing the offending item back in her laughing face. Seeing Mabel so focused on what she was doing surprised him at the very least.
Stan stepped closer to look at the stitching, amazed by how realistic she had made the pine trees at the very bottom. Not only that, Stan could tell it would be soft just by looking at it. He could only imagine how expensive the yarn had been.
Very, by the looks of it.
"I see." He answered finally, striding over to the refrigerator to grab a can of Pitt Cola.
He knew what Mabel was trying to do and Stan had to fight off the smile that wanted to form on his face. It didn't take much to notice how quiet the twins were towards each other and the thought had made him nervous, filling him to the brim with dread. After all, the two never fought like this.
Never. In all eight years of knowing them, they had always been quick to sort out their problems and fights, easily falling back into tandem with one another. To see a silence stretch out this long was...unheard of and nerve wracking in its own way, bringing another fresh wave of guilt to his already heavy conscience.
Had he been too hard? Too angry? Was his confrontation too cruel and mean for the two?
Was he the one to shatter their friendship and silence the two? Stan wanted to ask. Gods, did he want to question the two twins which were a conundrum and paradox all on their own, but he couldn't.
He just couldn't.
So instead, he leaned against the counter, sipping his cola while bending down periodically to pet Waddles behind the ears while he watched Mabel finish her work, the sound of crappy boy band music playing in the background.
"Where is your brother anyways? Still sleeping?" Stan finally asked, taking another swing.
Mabel gave him a single shoulder shrug. "I think he was studying or something. He woke up pretty early."
Stan rolled his eyes. "Yesh. Kid reads to much."
Mabel responded with another shrug, not really listening to what her Grunkle was saying.
Stan frowned at himself. It was kinda his fault that Dipper had to resort to schoolwork. Besides reading, the kid didn't have too many hobbies, unlike Mabel who was all about arts and crafts.
Stan sighed and bent down again to scratch a persistent Waddles' ears.
This pig was going to be the death of him.
Bent down, can in hand with Mabel's back facing him, neither saw the man in full body armor until he was crashing through the window, tackling Stan to the ground, crashing the older man into the counter and on the floor, yanking his hands back painfully behind his back to lock them in handcuffs covered in a number of cyan-glowing runes.
"Target secure!" The man cried out.
Having just finished her newest creation, Mabel dropped her sweater to the table and spun around just as the sound of shattering glass penetrated her ears from all sides.
Sev'ral Timez was drowned out by a number of shouting men from all around. Suddenly, more armored men entered the room, still yelling orders and "clears!" At one another.
"What the- What did I do to warrant this much arresting?!" Stan objected as he was hauled to his feet. The world was still spinning around him and his glasses now had a number of cracks in them from hitting the ground so hard. Stan tried to discreetly roll his hips, trying to get rid of the soreness found there.
"Who are you guys?! What are you doing in the Shack?!" Mabel shouted, jumping up to her feet as a few more men quickly stepped up just in case she tried doing something.
"We're with the NMA kid." Someone explained to her. "Special ops."
Mabel blinked NMA? Where had she heard of-
"National Magic Administration? They're in the news all the time, Mabel!"
Oh yeah. That.
"The other night there was a break-in at a local hospital. At o'four hundred hours, someone made way with a number of body organs used for transplant." The man holding Stan explained.
"What? And you think that's me?" Stan replied, appalled at the accusation.
"Don't play dumb with us, Pines! This is the only magic shop in town and the miasma levels are off the charts! Someone's been doing dark magic!"
"But I actually am dumb! I couldn't do all that!"
"He's right!" Mabel interjected quickly. Already on her feet, she walked over to Stan and the man holding him, holding out her hands to show she wasn't a threat. "Stan might be a little bit mean at times with the occasional scam, but he's not some sort of-of dark warlock!"
Before the man could say anything, another person entered the room. "All clear, sir. No one else here."
Mabel's heart skipped a beat.
Where was Dipper? He had been upstairs, right?
Right?
The girl glanced at Stan, who had gone pale at the certainty of the new man's voice. He had come to the same realization that she had.
Dipper had somehow snuck out. How, she wasn't sure. She should've heard the door, even over the music and television.
However the how didn't matter so much as the where and Mabel knew exactly where Dipper had gone to.
The man holding Grunkle Stan frowned. "I'm pretty sure the file said there were two wards. Where's the other?"
The new man who entered cursed and shrugged. "Not here. We checked everything."
"How many times have you checked everything? At least six, right? Six is a good number."
"Checked eight to be on the safe side, sir. Nothing."
The first man nodded. "Eight's even better. Anyways, you-!" He pointed at the men either side of Mabel. "Go get some people and search the town for the other kid!"
With a couple of terse nods the men at her shoulders saluted and left, jumping right out of the already broken window and running back across the lawn to one of the waiting cars.
"Let's go, Pines. You've got plenty of questions waiting for you." The first man said, forcing Stan to walk around the table and through the shop.
Mabel was right on their heels.
"You can't do this! I'm pretty sure this is breaking some sort of law of some kind!" She shouted out.
"Kid, we are the law." The man replied as the threesome broke free of the Shack.
Mabel paused at the scene she saw, eyes wide.
All around, armored men wandered about, armed with both guns and magical weapons. A number of other men in coats wandered about with weird scanners, yelling what sounded like nonsense across the lawn. A number of cars were parked around, each bearing a strange circular symbol of an eagle holding an eyeglass up to it's eye while runes of some sort were etched behind it. The initials NMA were printed neatly in the middle in bold letters.
"What the-"
Before she could completely process what was going on, someone grabbed her shoulder roughly and shoved her forward.
"Hey!" Mabel protested, twisting around to see the man from earlier behind her, the one who had cleared all the rooms.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Following orders. We're taking you to child services. Standard procedure."
"What-! No, you can't!" Mabel cried out as she was lead to a car. The brunette twisted her head all around as she watched Stan be shoved around some as he was put into the back of a different vehicle. The older man was putting up a struggle just like his niece.
"Mabel! You gotta believe me! For once I'm actually innocent! Mabel!" He shouted as he was thrown into the backseat and shut in, windows tinted to dark for her to really see him besides a vague silhouette.
Mabel bit her lip, a few scared tears bubbling in her eyes as she was forcefully buckled in. The door slammed closed, causing her to flinch.
The same man from before slipped into the driver's seat in front of her and started up the car, driving down the dirt road just behind Grunkle Stan, but took a right instead of a left.
"You're not seriously taking me to child services, are you?" Mabel asked. "Stan's innocent! He couldn't do anything of the stuff you said!"
The agent shook his head. "Yes, I am. As I said before kid, standard procedure when dealing with children. As for your uncle...well, you don't know him as well as you think."
Mabel's bottom lip trembled as she pushed herself back into the uncomfortable seat she was in, suddenly terrified. This was actually happening. Something that only happened on late night shows and action movies was actually happening to her.
And she was alone.
All alone. Stan wasn't here and neither was Dipper.
Dipper.
She wasn't so sure she should be grateful he snuck out or upset. Sure, he wasn't captured by government guys, but now he was behind on all this. He didn't know that he was being hunted. For what was probably the billionth time in her short life, Mabel wished she had twin telepathy just so she could tell Dipper what just happened so he could make a plan. Dipper was great at making plans. If anyone knew how to get out of this position she was in, it'd be him.
But Dipper wasn't here.
Mabel had to make her own plan.
The brunette stared out the window, up at the swirling green clouds and down at the forest that was speeding by. Even she knew that opening the door and trying to jump out was a suicide mission, no matter how well it worked for the hot guys in movies. Dejected, she tore her eyes away to look around the car for any more ideas. What she needed more than anything right now was a spark of inspiration and preferably a-
"What the-? WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!"
The agent jerked the wheel.
Mabel screamed as her body went flying, only held down by her seat belt.
And her world became a mirage of earthy greens and ethereal blues.
~~0~~0~~0~~
Dipper blinked as his world spiraled back into place. Though teleporting no longer made him drowsy or dizzy, there was still a period of confusion as he found his footing on reality. He pulled away from Bill, blinking hard and taking in his surroundings.
The smell of ash penetrated his nose as he stumbled a bit on the cracked, flat earth. The soil underneath his feet was blackened crimson, a deep dirty color that reminded Dipper of sin itself. No grass or life grew from the ground for what appeared to be miles, taken hostage by whatever he was standing on. All around, blackened and crumbling trees reached up high for the sky swirling with dark green clouds, never able to quite grasp at what was above and too fearful to completely crumble away.
There was a...tenseness in the air. An evil that could not be placed. Like a curse. Something here was wrong. Maybe that's why everything looked different. Dipper couldn't explain what was visibly wrong with the place, but there was something very, very off.
This part of the forest shouldn't exist. This place didn't have a right to exist. Instead of feeling like he was the trespasser, Dipper felt like the place he was standing was trespassing him. Too close for personal comfort, with a sharp need to get away. Run far far far away so he never saw or smelled or felt this abhorrent place ever again.
This was wrong.
Dipper would've run too. Completely high-tailed it out of here and forget he ever felt like this if it wasn't for the arms that suddenly draped around his shoulders, pulling him deeper into this...this wickedness.
"Shh, Pine Tree. I feel it too. This is what those sorcerers did a long time ago. This is their legacy, their scar they left on this place. But you're going to fix it. You're going to heal it." Bill whispered into his ear, voice unusually tight.
Dipper glanced up at the god, taken aback by the red that suddenly engulfed his one visible eye and the dullness to his hair.
Like him, Bill felt the- the pure violation of this part of the forest.
The god carefully lead his sapling deeper inside, stepping over dead and crumbled branches and roots, hugging him close to his side. Pressure was building up inside his head and even his mouth, causing him to get a terrible irony tang stuck on his tongue.
However, despite the anger and hatred this place brought him. Despite how much he wanted to claw and scream and rip and tear and destroy, the arms that had wrapped around him as he walked held him back. His sweet Pine Tree was here. Here to break him out. Here to hold him down while this was in progress.
Bill restrained himself, but only for the child that was hanging on to him.
Dipper shuddered as the trees started pressing closer together, causing that oppressive feeling suspended in the air to become even heavier than before. The brunet felt physically and mentally fatigued already. He didn't want to be here anymore.
He felt sick.
"Almost there, Pine Tree." Bill suddenly whispered again. "You're doing so well." He tacked on.
"Y-You feel it too?" Dipper muttered, worrying the inside of his cheek as his eyes drooped some. He didn't want to go on. He just wanted to lie down and never move again. Never think again.
Never live again.
"Yes, though I'm more use to this place than you are. Once the ritual starts, the feelings will go away."
"They better." Dipper muttered as he pushed his face into Bill's side and screwed his eyes shut, hoping the darkness behind his eyelids was enough to wash away the sight that was all around him.
"Do you want to be carried, Pine Tree?" Bill asked suddenly.
Dipper shook his head against the god's side, replied muffled by fabric.
Bill clenched his fists and nodded, though his sapling couldn't see him. It was probably for the best considering how badly he wanted to burn something right now. The rage and flames were licking his insides, begging to be let out. Begging to tear and maim. Begging for destruction.
Bill ripped his thoughts away from carnage and focused on his footsteps and his sapling. They were almost there. This was almost over with.
He could practically taste his freedom at this point.
The ruined trees started to thin out a little and finally, the duo reached their destination.
"You can open your eyes now, Pine Tree." Bill murmured to the boy, lifting his hand to twirl some of the brunet's soft hair.
Dipper very carefully peeked out from Bill's side, staring blurry between the gold fabric, his own bangs, and the brim of his hat. He blinked again as he slowly pulled away from the god, blowing hair out of his way.
Dipper's gut tightened with all sorts of vile and repulsed knots. He could feel his heart fall into illness, pumping venom slowly through his veins. Ants crawled between his muscle and under his skin, nipping what they could find and slowly tearing him apart.
What was before him was nearly...indescribable. An obvious lifetime of work. A horrible and cruel secret that not even Stan completely knew about. If Stan knew about this- this terribleness of this seal, then he'd want to break Bill out too. No one deserved to be in the middle of this deformity of nature. This perversion of anything that could possibly be called good in this world.
The seal was huge, stretching out countless feet in every direction. Dark orange lightening sparked off every once and a while, crackling in the air, mixing the smell of ozone in with the already putrid stench in the air. Everything around him was buzzing with the magic being used. The ground was no longer covered in red soil, as if everything of color had been drained away a long time ago. Large cracks scarred the earth, leaving small but gaping canyons, deep and leading to nowhere.
The seal itself was a triangle, something Dipper had never seen before. Runes were carved all along the perimeter, both on the outside and the inside. Inside, a number of strange details were made with the same hieroglyphic runes used. Bricks all along the very bottom and near the topmost point, what looked to be a strange oval of some sort. Like an eye.
Dipper blinked. He knew he's seen this somewhere before. Not this exact seal, but it's shape. But where...?
Dipper shook his head. "S-So this...this is the...place." He grounded out slowly, barely able to catch his breath. There was a pressure on his lungs, causing his breathing to turn into gasps and huffs.
Bill frowned a little. "Yes, this is the place."
Dipper nodded slowly. "J-Just...tell me...w-what to...do." He said. "I...w-want...to get this ov-over with."
Bill nodded. He wanted this over with too. He wanted to be free.
He didn't want his sapling to suffer any longer from this place.
"Okay, all you have to go is go into the very center of the eye in the seal. There, you will find two hand prints burned into the ground. Put your hands over it and focus your will into it and say this incantation.
Bill twirled his hand in the air, producing a piece of paper. The god gave it to the brunet, ignoring the burning feeling and his now pounding headache. Using magic so close to the seal left him drained and tired.
Dipper glanced down at the Latin written on the paper. Shouldn't be to hard to say. His Latin had always been better than most his age, much to his surprise and delight.
"And...t-that's it?" Dipper asked.
Bill nodded tensely. "That's it."
Pulling away from Bill's side and throwing him one last small grin, Dipper slowly walked up to the seal, footsteps heavy and slow, standing right outside the runes scored deep into the ground.
What would happen once he stepped inside? Would he feel worse? Better? Would the pressure increase? Would his stuffed ears pop and lungs burst?
There was only one way to find out.
Dipper stepped directly onto the seal.
Nothing changed whatsoever.
He was careful not step on any hieroglyph directly. He really had never seen a seal like this before, after all.
Nor had he seen runes like this. They span all around and though Dipper could see the pattern, he couldn't make out what they said in any way.
Dipper cocked an eyebrow, but stepped over them nonetheless.
The brunet was highly aware of Bill's eyes burning into him as he finally stepped into the eye after dancing around the odd 'bricks.' As the god said, Dipper could see the impression of hands scorched into the earth, larger than his own by quite a bit.
Giving Bill one last glance, Dipper sunk to his knees. Placing the slip of paper in front of him, Dipper read over the words a few more times and tested them on his tongue carefully before putting his hands down. This was...advanced. More advanced than he ever even thought of doing. This seal was obviously specially make just to keep Bill locked in this forest. Breaking it would probably be the hardest thing he'll ever try to do.
Taking in one last gasping breath, Dipper put his smaller hands over the ones in the ground, amazed and slightly shocked at how hot the earth was.
He shook his head. He needed to focus.
Eyeing the incantation, Dipper breathed in and out some, calming and preparing himself.
After what was probably a few seconds but felt like minutes, Dipper started.
mittite hunc clauditis
alligandi eum arboribusque
auferetur ab eo iniquitas eius excipiant
defluxit et oblitus
qui pro negatur claudatur
et tene minuitur
He threw all his will into what he was doing.
He wanted out of here. He wanted Bill out of here. He wanted to god to experience this new world. He wanted Bill to...to be with him. To stay with him forever. He wanted the god at his side to joke around with, to hang. To explore new places and he wanted all the hugs and kisses that came with that. He wanted the teasing and the mean pranks.
He just wanted Bill. Wanted him more than anything he's ever wanted for in his entire life.
Dipper chanted the incantation over and over again, slowly getting louder and louder. Around him, dark orange electricity crackled and the earth below started rumbling, almost throwing away from the seal and would've too if he wasn't crouched so low to the ground.
He repeated it again and again and again, voice becoming hoarse as Dipper carved the very words into his soul, not letting go and never letting go.
Bill would be free.
Bill would be free.
Bill would be free.
Bill would be free.
BILL. WOULD. BE. FREE.
And that's all he wanted. Truly and honestly with his whole being. Heart, mind, soul.
And the world exploded with blue flames.
~~0~~0~~0~~
Far, far away from Gravity Falls, deep underground southern Nevada, a door to a single and lonely cell was thrown open.
The men stalked inside, their normally stoic faces twisted in slight fear.
"You really think she'll know anything? She's gone insane! Hasn't spoken for years."
"She'll talk. She's been laughing to herself for days. She knew this was coming."
In the background, sirens still wailed.
The two focused on the back wall where a single figure was tied against her will. Her strange, five-pointed head hung low, her neck long and delicate. She was dressed in ratty gray clothes which still sported signs of abuse, from the clear burns and tears to the golden ichor that had dried.
She slowly lifted her head, fixing her eyes on the two men before her. Like their superiors had said, inane laughter fell from her double lips, high-pitched and wild. Her chest heaved from the force she was putting out, not use to making sounds.
The first man who spoke strode over, face twisted slightly in disgust and hate.
"I know you know what this sudden energy surge is. And you're going to tell us."
She laughed harder, throwing her head back and baring her smooth, blue neck.
The first man sneered and turned back to his partner. "Well?" He spat.
The second man rolled his eyes and joined the first. "You're not doing it right."
Reaching into his clothes, he pulled out a single red glove. Black runes were etched into the pads of the fingers and glowed with an unnatural light.
He slipped the glove on and stepped close to the woman, shoving his face right into hers.
"What was that energy surge? Where did it come from? No being other than a god could do that. An ancient god."
More laughter bubbled from her two pairs of lips.
"You can either tell us and be good, or well force the information out of you. You're choice." He snarled.
She continued laughing.
The man scowled. Yanking the collar of her shirt away, he stared at the black ring burned onto her neck briefly, taking in the symbol printed in the center before brushing his gloved fingers over it.
Electricity sparked, and a reaction bloomed.
Her laughter fell into shrieks of pain as she tried to wrench herself free, only to tighten the bonds around her skin, choking and cutting. Her ichor bled from the wounds freely, thin and weak.
Slowly, the man removed his finger from the mark.
Her screams died down to inane muttering in old Latin.
"English!" The man roared, stabbing his finger back onto the symbol burned into her neck.
She screamed once again, but this time words were mixed in with her yells of agony. Words she hadn't spoken in decades.
"HE HAS RETURNED! HE-!" She fell into a coughing fit, not use to her own vocal chords.
"Who. Who is 'he?'" The man snarled, pushing down harder and adding another finger. "WHO?!"
"MY PHARAOH! MY PHARAOH HAS RETURNED!"
~~0~~0~~0~~
Well...Two more chapters to go...
I can feel all the theorists out there tearing out their hair.
There was an actual special font I was going to use for the seal hieroglyphics mentioned but neither fanfiction. net or AO3 support it so...*shrugs* oh well. Doesn't surprise me, but I'm a little disappointed all the same.
Huge thanks to itcamefromashes from AO3 for the Latin translation!
For those of you curious, it translates to:
Lock him hither
Bind him to the trees
His sin will seep away from him
Faded and forgotten
Lock in place he who is denied
And keep him forevermore
Have fun throwing that Latin into Google Translate to see how it's butchered.
JackieLanternXOXO- Yush. Yush he is cute :3
Mysterious Rose- True. This time.
WO- Hehe, Dipper will get his time. Everyone will! And SU is great. Just recently started binge watching it.
crabbySeer- Either go big or go home, eh?
MindfulThoughtlessness- Ah, thank you!
The Raccoon- I guess we are ;)
familiar fan- I hope this was juicy enough for you.
Guest- Plenty :3
random name- Ask no questions and hear no lies.
LuminousMoonRay- This is the first part of a trilogy, so no alternate endings. This story is just getting started.
Crazy Weird- Ah hah, you'll see ;)
Wildtail of Wind- True. But theories are always fun to read and actually do give me ideas.
Just-Gold- Hehe, hope you liked this chapter! Dipper and Bill are adorable together :3
Meloris850- Thank you! I won't stop writing until this trilogy is complete! You have my word!
The Keeper of Worlds- No body fusions. I promise
Over 200 reviews?! That's crazy, guys! Thank you all for reviewing so much! I love hearing what you guys have to say and reading it puts the goofiest grin on my face. All of you guys are awesome in every way, shape, and form!
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Next one will also run a bit late because of length. By the looks of it. It may be longer than this chapter!
Anyways, as always, thanks for reading!