Gideon's PoV
All I could see is pitch black. The cold, empty atmosphere sends shivers down my spine. Crisp dry leaves shatter as I trudge through the forest, trying to find even a tiny source of light.
My movements stop when I feel something cold brush up against my back. I hesitate for several seconds. Whatever it is, I just hope it isn't dangerous.
I turn around.
Yet, I meet the same darkness the whole forest is emitting, I look back to where I originally faced and keep walking. It's probably just my imagination anyway.
I don't know how long I trekked this lonesome forest, it could have only been mere minutes, or perhaps a few hours. How long I've gone through this maze of trees is one thing, but the only thing I want to do right now is get out.
"Get out, you say?" A voice filled with dullness whispers into my ear. That voice... I believe I've heard it before.
I turn around, expecting a gigantic monster, or perhaps a category 9 ghost (AN#1). When I see nothing, my stomach falls. First I end up in a weird forest with no way out and now I'm hearing things.
"Have you already forgotten me?" The same voice fills my ears. It's disheartened tone continuously echoes in my brain.
"Wh-who's there?" I croak, fear in my voice.
I swing my head around. I frantically attempt to find the owner of the voice. My heartbeat is now running a million miles, along with the butterflies that keep churning in my stomach.
"Have you truly forgotten me already?" I hear the same depressed tone behind me.
I turn around and I come face to face with a silhouette of who seems to be a man. With a questioning gaze I open my mouth, only to close it again afterwards.
The mysterious shadow seems to know what I was thinking and moves an inch closer to me. "Well, I believe it was also my fault. I never really explained myself well yesterday."
Questions pop up into my mind, yet I dare not to interrupt him. Never argue with with a stranger you can't even see. I try racking my brain. Taking a few minutes to evaluate the situation, the familiarity, the tone.
Then it hits me.
"You're the voice from yesterday..." I stare at the silhouette standing before me. It's head seems to moves up and down, confirming my thoughts.
*Flashback*
Before entering the Tent of Telepathy
I gaze at the line before me. The Gleeful Twins must really be famous. The line appears to be 100 meters long from where I'm standing anyway.
At the end.
The line constantly moves, slowly and carefully.
"Beware..." A sullen voice echoes into my ear. I look back to see an empty field.
Slightly creeped out, I lessen the distance with the person in front and keep moving forward.
"Beware the twins... keep the book safe, and trust NO ONE." The same voice rings.
My heartbeat starts to increase gradually. I look behind me once again, and to my luck, nobody is behind me. I swallow my saliva and continue to move along with the line.
Finally after 9 minutes and 48 seconds (AN#2), the line ends, leaving me as the only one left outside.
Pacifica, where are you?
I walk through the cyan curtains of the Tent.
I almost receive a heart attack as a hand grabs me by the shoulders. I try to scream, but another gloved hand covered my mouth. "Gideon! Glad you could make it."
I turn around to find an ecstatic Pacifica in a green dress. Her hair is well done, topped with a lavender placed neatly on her ear.
"Wha-"
"No time to explain, let's get to our seat!" She exclaims. She drags me towards the back of the tent, right smack in the middle.
*End of Flashback*
"I deeply apologize for imposing on you so suddenly." The shadow looms over me, still as a rock.
"A-apology taken. But who are you?" I question.
It stops mid-air and appears to be thinking to himself.
"Truthfully, I have forgotten who I once was..." The shadow speaks depressingly.
I feel pity for the shadow, he must've been stuck as an apparition for quite a long time.
It flows down to my level and surprises me quite a bit. "Indeed, it is a pity, but it's your life you need to worry about. Be wary of the Gleefuls. Do not let them lay their hands upon the journal." The shadow whispers with a hint of authority in his voice. "That is all I have to say for now..." The shadow says as he slowly vanished.
"Remember my warning, and trust NO ONE." It mutters one last time.
Suddenly, cracks begin to form on the ground beneath, opening a large hole to the dark abyss.
I fall straight through the crack. Screaming all the way down, my eyes close and my brain becomes devoid of blood (AN#3).
No One's PoV
"AHHH!" Gideon screams, shooting up from where he lies. The rough covers now rest on his lap and keeps his mind with ease.
It was only a dream... Gideon thinks cheerily to himself.
Yet I am not... The voice rings in Gideon's head once more.
Surprised at the sudden response, Gideon whispers to himself. "You're still here?"
Unfortunately, no other response returns.
With a sigh Gideon sits upright and brushes the thought off. He turns his head to the other side of the attic to find his cousin's bed neatly fixed.
He stands up from the bed. He fixes his red shirt, and puts on his vest and cap.
Placing a hand inside of his vest, Gideon's hand touches the worn leather of Journal #3. He won't be able to breathe easily anytime soon.
He walks down the flight of stairs, stopping at the bottom to wear his shoes.
He tiptoes into the kitchen, unnoticed by Uncle Bud cooking pancakes, and Pacifica eating hers while happily using her phone. He could hear the faint voice of Uncle Bud, quietly humming a tune while cooking. A delicious aroma tickles his nose.
"Morning." Gideon mumbles, taking the attention of Uncle Bud and Pacifica.
Pacifica's face beams for a split-second, but quickly fades. Their argument last night is not gonna end smoothly.
Gideon walks straight towards the dining table and sits down beside Pacifica. He stabs his fork into his pancakes a couple times, shifting uncomfortably at the tension between him and his cousin.
Opening his mouth, Gideon breaks the awkward silence, his gaze not leaving his pancakes. "I'm sorry." He quietly says. He shoves a slice of pancake into his mouth.
Pacifica looks up from her phone, the sadness slowly diminishing.
"You know... for blowing my face off at you yesterday." Gideon adds. He takes another bite.
Pacifica's frown comes back. It was her fault for sticking her nose in her cousin's business, yet here is her cousin apologizing to her.
Gideon thinks of a proposal over his head. His mind stuck between 'this is a bad idea' and 'just do it'. "Perhaps you want to go shopping?" He asks with his mouth half full of food. Yep, this is definitely a bad idea.
Pacifica immediately shoots up, finally beaming with joy again. "I'll take up that offer! Hurry up cuzzo, we're going to the mall!" She announces. She gobbles up the rest of her pancakes like it was nothing.
Gideon just sits with a content smile on his face. If there's anything hates seeing the most, it's his cousin being all blue and gloomy. It never suits her.
In fact, he hates seeing ANYONE cry or be sad, especially if the reason is him (AN#4).
Pacifica rushes up the stairs like a tornado destroying a peaceful field.
"What have I gotten myself into?" Gideon asks to no one in particular. He chuckles to himself as he finishes the last slice of his pancake.
Uncle Bud peeks through the kitchen door. 2 plates of pancakes in his hands. "Your worst nightmare... now hurry up, you know how girls are when it comes to shopping." He says, sitting down on one of the vacant seats.
"Gideon let's go!" Pacifica exclaims as she speeds through the living room in a pink top, blue leather skirt, and brown boots, dragging Gideon along with her. "We have no time to lose!" She squeals on the way out.
Gideon just lets his cousin be. It's the price to pay to see her happy.
"Buy dinner on the way home!" Uncle Bud calls, early enough before the shack's door closes. "Kids these days. Too energetic for their own good." He mumbles to himself as he sits on the one-seater couch and turns on the television to pass time.
Time Skip
*At the mall*
"Pacifica, wait up!" Gideon exclaims nasally as he wheezes and pants.
Pacifica stops in her tracks, just in front of the mall entrance.
"Cuzzo, you're taking too long!" She exclaims, just as Gideon is able to catch up.
He squats beside her to take a breather. "I can't help it..." Gideon complains as Pacifica pulls him into the mall.
Pacifica rolls her eyes. "Oh just man up and come help me!".
She runs through the mall grounds at the speed of light while dragging a poor Gideon behind. The event unfolds in front of many shoppers, who pities the poor boy.
The mall contains a large array of shops and stalls. There were shops for almost anything. One mainly sells shoes, while another sells only hats. One sells toys, while another sells video games. There are even repair shops for almost every electronic gadget you could think of.
Unfortunately, Pacifica is bringing Gideon into every single one of them.
*Time Skip*
Gideon trudges behind Pacifica. Bags of clothing and accessories swarm his chubby frame. "Paz, a little help?" He whines. He tries his best not to succumb to the weight of the bags.
"I don't understand why you need it." Pacifica teases. She takes half of her bags from Gideon, showing ease and even grace.
Gideon however is about to drop even with the other half taken from him.
Gideon is bewildered. He even blinks and rubs his eyes to confirm. "What? How?!" He exclaims as he drags the other half of the bags. "I can't even carry mine, not even half at the least..." He sits on the ground in defeat, his legs unable to keep up with the weight.
Pacifica smirks and pulls a tongue out. "I just took the lightest bags. Serves you right!" She laughs like a madman and runs farther from Gideon and into other shops.
Gideon sits on one of the mall benches and sighs in relief. He can finally regain the feeling in his legs. "I can never understand women..." He says to no one in particular.
"Me either..." A voice speaks behind Gideon, catching him by surprise.
He turns around and meets face to face with a brunette. He falls down from his seat, the bags he was forced to carry follows him and piles over him.
Gideon's head pops out of the bags to see an all too familiar face. "Gleeful..." He hisses, remembering what the shadow told him.
Dipper chuckles as the whole mall turns grey along with the people.
This startles Gideon.
Dipper is unfazed as he picks Gideon up by the neck from the pile of shopping bags and pins him onto the glass wall of a shop.
Gideon desperately fights back. He even flails his legs.
Dipper only stands his ground as he pushes him into the glass once more much harder than the last. "You will cower before me Pines, you and your whole family. Your precious cousin too." Dipper growls. "In fact, I'll probably play with Pacifica the most. I'll make her squeal and squirm under my touch."
Dipper loosens his grip on Gideon and maniacally laughs. He leaves Gideon on the floor, whose heart is beating fast, and sweat covering his face.
The mall regains its color, the people starts to move once again. "Well I've had my fun. See you around, Pines." He chuckles as he walks away from Gideon, disappearing from his sight.
Nobody seems to mind Gideon whose hair is now ruffled.
"I don't trust him one bit..." Gideon tells himself. He picks up the bags in a heartbeat.
Somewhere, in a dark place of the mall.
A figure hides within the shadows, only a fez and an eyepatch visible in the light. "Talk about killing 3 birds with one stone." (AN#5) He chuckles as he turns around, letting the light show his face.
"Looks like I have found the missing piece." Stan, the figure, chuckles to himself as he holds his amulet. A hologram zooms in on Gideon's vest, showing the 3rd journal.
AN#1: Yes, I am referencing the Dream Hipster.
AN#2: What? He was bored.
AN#3: Just a metaphor. Don't worry about it.
AN#4: By the way, I am not shipping Gideon and Pacifica... that just feels, so wrong.
AN#5: 3 things he was able to do, torment a Pines, give Dipper a worsening reputation, and finding the 3rd journal.