Episode 13: Chrysalis [part 1]
Arc: "Awakening"
Opening: Butterfly Core – Valshe.

. . .

Stan knew something was wrong.

He wasn't dumb: he knew and noticed Dipper had been acting in a weird way for the past days. It could've been just two or three days, but Stan knew his great-nephew too well. The first thing that changed was his sleep: the boy had always slept late, because that is what you do when you're on vacation. Now, all of sudden, Dipper decided to sleep at 8:00, or something near that. That wasn't the only change, though. After some days, Dipper had been going out too much.

This new information wasn't that impressive – the boy was always out hunting monster and unnatural creatures.

However, he always did that with Mabel, and now he was going out by himself.

And last, but not least, his appearance. Stan's sight wasn't as good as it had once been (even with glasses), but he swore that Dipper's hair passed from brown to blue all of sudden. If it was a light blue, Stan wouldn't have noticed it at all, but it was a navy-blue color, something very noticeable. His eyes were another issue. It could have been his imagination, but for a brief moment Stan thought the boy's eye color had changed from deep brown to a noticeable yellow.

Wendy should've noticed it too and didn't tell anyone, or pretended she didn't notice. The same goes with Soos.

And there was Mabel.

Oh, Mabel…

The girl knew everything already. She knew something was wrong; she knew her brother was up to something. She knew something wasn't right even before Stan realized it. But he, of course, was no match for her. She had known him for twelve years, since they were born. Both shared the same womb, the same room, the same birthday, almost everything. And both were loyal to each other. They wouldn't turn their backs to each other. They wouldn't hide secrets from each other.

They wouldn't, would they?

If so, then why did they feel like Dipper was hiding something?

What was he up to?

…

Stan hears a sound coming from upstairs, snapping him from his thoughts. It is a door slamming shut, and then the sound of footsteps coming closer. Someone was coming downstairs. Stan did his best to pretend he was counting the cash register's money and doing nothing else; now he was just glad that Wendy wasn't there. He wasn't surprised to see that it was Dipper who was coming down the stairs; great, just great; and he wasn't thinking that in an ironic way, of course not. Now he could have a talk with him, and he had many things to talk about.

Many things.

"Kid," He called. Dipper was a few centimeters away from the gift shop's door, when he stopped on his tracks, but didn't turn to face his great uncle. The boy just stood there, like a statue. The Shack was almost closing, and there were a few costumers inside the gift shop who had nothing to do but stare at the merchandise. From the window, the sun could already be seen hiding behind the mountains and trees, ready to go to sleep and let the night take place.

Stan always liked the night, because he used to see the stars with his family. Especially with him, analyzing the stars and naming the unknown ones. Everything seemed so peaceful in their family, until it happened. Of course it had to happen. Why did everything happen to the Pines family? Was it because the universe hated them or something?

He didn't know about the universe, but Stan knew a certain someone that hated them.

It wouldn't take long until there was no one in the Shack and Stan could talk to Dipper freely. "Where are you going?"

"Out." That was Dipper's short answer.

"Without your sister?" Stan decided to ask. That was a rather sensitive issue, and he knew that. However, it was important for him to know if his great nephew was avoiding Mabel, and it looked like he was, indeed. As a simple reply, Dipper shook his head. And then Stan sighed. It was time to know the truth, and he'd get it; with or without Dipper wanting it, because he was Stan Pines…

And when Stan wants it, Stan gets it.

"She's busy." Stan didn't like how Dipper was giving him short answers that would give him no clue of what he was planning or thinking. "Now I'll just go-"

"Wait, you have to stay here to, uh, sweep the floor." Dipper looked down at the floor, which wasn't even dusty, but arguing with his great uncle didn't seem like a good idea. Also, he didn't have any purpose to go out. All he wanted was some fresh air, and to get away from Mabel as soon as possible. And there was a chance that Stan would follow him and discover about his deal with Bill. He wouldn't risk anything. Without any struggle, Dipper nodded. That was easy, Stan thought, narrowing his eyes at the preteen who went to get the broom.

That was too easy…

Dippers started sweeping the floor until one voice rang inside his head.

And he knew very well who it was.

"Pine Tree, I need to talk to you. It's serious. I need you at Gravity Falls' forest right now." The voice said, sounding like the person on the other side was in a rush. Dipper sighed, hoping his great uncle hadn't noticed anything. He kept sweeping like nothing had happened. At least he didn't say anything wrong. Something he had learned was that, the less you talk, the less you reveal your secrets. This is why he decided to say simple words such as 'out', 'she's busy', and stuff.

"Are you even listening to me, Pine Tree?!" Dipper snapped out of his thoughts, noticing the urgency in the guy's voice. Something was wrong. He could feel the uneasiness in the air. For the first three seconds he forgot how to talk back. Luckily, he remembered that he could retort just by thinking in an answer; Dipper could've slapped himself for forgetting something so easy.

"Yes, yes, I'm listening. But I can't go. Not now. Stan's keeping an eye on me; I think he's noticed I'm acting weird. One wrong move and I'm as good as dead- well, not literally." Dipper answered. But half of what he said was true: Stan was watching him, and if he did something wrong, his great uncle would notice something was wrong; plainly wrong. "But I'm sure he'll find out our secret. Sooner or later, but he will."

"Then you have to find a way to get out without being noticed."

"Do you think I'm some kind of magician?"

"No, but you're a demon and my apprentice. You might've at least learned something, for the love of…" And he stopped there. That was definitely Bill Cipher, his mentor and worst-enemy-now-somewhat-of-an-ally-but-Dipper-is-not-that-sure-and-it's-not-like-it-matters-anyway. Dipper knew he was a demon, or half-demon, and he knew that he could do something, like blind Stan for half-minute or something, but then what?

Stan would notice he was gone, and he would realize it was Dipper who blinded him. And maybe he'd follow him, search for footprints or whatever, and then discover that he was there, talking to a dream-demon, their worst enemy, and that he had made a deal with him. He wouldn't understand that Dipper did it to protect his family and friends. He had sacrificed himself for them. He had made a deal with the devil for them…

That was all too unnatural.

"Again: do you think I'm some kind of magician?" Dipper repeated. He noticed Stan was staring at him, and then the blunette (since his hair is now blue) noticed he had stopped sweeping all of sudden, due to the large amount of concentration he had to use to formulate the simplest of the phrases. Dipper started sweeping the floor again, like nothing had happened.

"Stan's getting really suspicious; if I try to escape, he'll be even more suspicious and may find out what is happening here, I told you already. Can't you tell me now or something?" He asked. That sounded so obvious that it was actually dumb and prone to fail. Everything that is too easy is prone to fail.

"No, we need to go somewhere where you can faint without anyone noticing." Bill stopped for five seconds before continuing. "You will come, or I will go there and get you myself."

"Bill, don't you dare come in here! Wait- Faint? What do you mean? Bill? BILL!" But he was gone. Bill had been gone since he said his last words, and didn't hear any of Dipper's questions or his warning. That guy…, Dipper narrowed his eyes at the floor, focusing on the broom he was holding and the sweeping motion. Back and forth, back and forth... He noticed the shack was almost empty; almost. Dipper sighed.

What should I do?

wH aT Do yO u Th I nK yO U shO ulD D o?

Dipper stopped and let the broom fall from his hands and right onto the floor, making a faint 'thud' sound. Dipper blinked twice before he processed what he had heard. It was a voice. Dipper could barely recognize it. That wasn't Bill's. That wasn't Stan's. That wasn't Soos'. That wasn't Wendy's. That definitely wasn't Mabel's. That voice wasn't from anyone he knew. Dipper sighed and shook his head. He may have been daydreaming or something, but he swore he had heard a voice.

It looked like the creature was speaking an unknown language, but Dipper swore he heard something.

Weird…

And this time, nobody answered.

"Kid, you let the broom fall." Stan warned, still counting the money from the cash register. Dipper nodded and crouched down to grab the broom. Stupid, stupid, you let Stan notice you're acting weird, Dipper scolded himself. He grabbed the broom from the floor, but kept still. Why? Why do all the weird things happen to me? Deals with crazy dream-demons, dark secrets… I just want to know…

Dipper sighed and bit his lower lip, knowing he wouldn't get any answers just by asking himself, and so he got up. However, upon doing that, he accidentally hit someone.

"Oh my goodness, I'm sorry." Dipper said, as he noticed the person fell to the floor. He extended his hand to help whoever he had bumped into. The person gladly accepted his help. However, a few seconds later, they just kept staring at each other. Dipper blushed: it was a girl, and she was stunning. The preteen's white-to-gray hair, which was long and bound with a purple ribbon, was something really unnatural, but it fit her piercing purple eyes.

They were the same height, apparently, because he could look into her hypnotizing eyes without any problem.

Her pale complex made her look even more fragile as a girl. "Uh, I'm Dipper; Dipper Pines. What's your name?" He asked, so they wouldn't just keep staring at each other for a long time.

After he asked that, a noticeable smile tugged at the corner of the girl's lips.

"It's nice to meet you, Dipper Pines." She tilted her head to the side and her smile widened. Dipper had never seen such fragile-looking girl. However, he froze after she said the next words: "My name is Ariadne."

A/N: Yep, short chapter. Before you say something, I can explain:

My life has literally been hell. I've had my violin presentation this Friday, and it was like a goddamn nightmare. I was playing well until I forgot the freaking end and I stood there like a jerk trying to remember it. Yeah, pretty embarrassing, but I made up something :/ also, I have tests from tomorrow to next Friday so my life is a hellish nightmare right now. Also, I've got life to live, you see. I DIDN'T have any writer's block for now, but my life is just so busy that I have to write my ideas down so I won't forget and stuff.

WARNING: I re-wrote the WHOLE story from chapter 5 to 12! So you might want to check it out.

Well, that chapter was short, but it has three parts. And... DUN DUN DUUUUUN CLIFFFFFFFHANGEEEER! Also, I'm not answering any of the previous questions. For now, two questions I shall ask:

(1) What was your reaction after reading this chapter?

(2) Some main characters will have theme songs that I will show later. What do you think about this?

Again, sorry for short update :/ anyway, keep your heart beating! Big things are coming!

...Big things are coming...

Awakened Niwana, off.