Just so you know, I never had any intention of making Wendy, Soos, or Gideon prominent characters in this story, so they are not; Pacifica shows up later for one chapter. Let's just go with: they have other things taking up their lives. Stan and Ford are also just kind of supporting characters of sorts. They're just kind of...there, I guess. But this story mainly revolves around Dipper, Mabel, Bill, and Amy, so *shrug*. This story is actually nearly complete, btw. I'm currently writing chapter 33 at the time of posting this. There are also plans for a sequel.

June 9th

Yesterday was Amy's birthday. Still don't know how old she really is. Since she's really a dragon, that means she's immortal. I can't imagine living forever. Not getting old sounds cool, but never dying? I mean, I don't want to die, but I don't know if I'd want to live forever either. Guess it would depend on a few things... I wonder what Amy's thoughts on it are?

I got Amy to draw in my journal what the Will-o-Wisps actually look like. Or, how she, Bill, and the dragons see them. They're cute but mischievous-looking. Amy draws really well.

Amy's birthday… Mabel had this idea to look up the contact information for Amy's cousin and invite her over for Amy's birthday. Her name is Marie, and her dad is Amy's dad's brother. She's a rich young lady with fancy, expensive clothes. She looks like a doll. My experience with rich girls taught me that they're rude and stuck-up, but Marie was really nice and friendly. A bit overly energetic and airy though. Amy was not happy when she showed up…

Amy has her moments of energetic and playful behavior, but typically she's pretty laid back and down to earth. She's also sort of a country girl who wears casual clothes and isn't afraid to get into the muck and mud if she needs to. She and Marie are nearly polar opposites.

Amy ended up blowing up at Marie in the middle of the Gravity Falls mall in front of everyone before storming off. Turns out that she and her cousin never really spent much time together or talked because Marie's dad wouldn't let them. He never wanted anything to do with his brother or Amy for reasons even Marie doesn't know. She was doing her best, but I think Marie was trying too hard to make it up to Amy, so Amy ended up getting agitated and overwhelmed.

They made up later, though, then spent the rest of the day alone together talking and getting to know each other. Marie had to leave later that evening after dinner, but she said that she would keep in touch. Amy didn't tell her about the whole magic or dragon thing, but she clearly seemed to be more at ease after their talk.

Note: Marie thought that Bill was Amy's boyfriend and kept playfully teasing Amy about it. Amy's face turned a shade of red that nearly matched her shirt. Every time Marie mentioned it, Amy would get embarrassed and annoyed about it. Bill on the other hand didn't seem to care much the first time Marie said it, but later on when she said it again, he looked surprised and looked at Amy for some reason. She ended up snapping "What!" at him when he did and he visibly flinched. It was funny, so I thought I'd write about it.

Amy mentioned something today about going to see that dragon called Ghost tomorrow. We're all going to go with her. She even said yes when we asked if Wendy could come. I can't wait to see yet another dragon.

Update: It's nighttime now. Mabel spent the whole day trying to figure out what's under Bill's eyepatch. She did not succeed. Not even close. She ended up going to Amy to ask her, but Amy only gave her a weird look and said, "What makes you think I know?"

Also, when Ford and I were talking about Necronire after dinner, we ended up talking about McGucket and how he went crazy after accidentally being pulled into Necronire that one time. It was a brief moment, but it was long enough for him to see something that traumatized him and made him start using that mind eraser thing. We were pondering out loud that maybe he saw Ragnarok, then Bill passed by and stopped to tell us that what he saw was Bill "removing his exoskeleton to feed". …That's honestly one of the most horrific and disturbing sentences I've ever heard in my life. What does that even mean? Why would something with an exoskeleton need to remove it to eat? Also, his original form has an EXOSKELETON? His choice of the word "feed" instead of eat also bothers me… What the heck does he eat? What was he eating when McGucket saw him? Maybe I don't really want to know…

Bill shrugged and called him a "sensitive baby" about it. Then he mentioned that Amy had seen him do that too "but she's fine" he said. When we looked at Amy, she shrugged a little and took a sip of her tea as she continued to read the book she was reading. I don't know when, where, how, or why she saw that, but she apparently did and doesn't even care. Maybe she and Bill were just messing with us…? I asked her what it looked like and she said that describing it was hard, so I asked if she could draw it and she just looked directly at me with this serious expression and said, very firmly, no. It might be for the best, honestly. But she's seen THAT and doesn't know what's under the eyepatch!?

…

"Ugh!" Mabel threw her head back in frustration. She was sitting cross-legged on the couch with the Enchiridion in her lap. "Why can't this thing use normal letters? I can't read dragon!" Amy had just entered the room and was feeding the fish. "You're part dragon." Mabel smiled. "Can you teach me how to read it?"

Amy glanced back at her. "You think just because I have dragon blood that I know the language?" She smiled. "Well, you're right. I do. But you can't understand the text if you don't understand the words."

"Huh?"

She sighed. "They have a symbol for every letter of the alphabet, but not every word is spelled out. Certain words have their own marks and symbols. Like, an X stands for No, a diagonal line is Yes, and so on. I mean, you can spell them out, but they'll think you're crazy. You don't need to learn it though. You'll never have a use for it."

"But what if I want to have a conversation with a dragon?"

Amy chuckled. "Knowing how to read the language won't help you with that. Besides, dragons speak English. You already know that. They learn new words almost as soon as they hear them, so even if you met one that only spoke one language, they'd pick up yours almost instantly. Some of them can even understand animals."

"Is that why you're so good with animals?" Dipper asked.

"I guess," she shrugged. "I mean, I can kind of understand them, but it's not exactly like how you and I are talking right now." She paused for a moment. "What were you asking that book anyway?"

"I was trying to figure out where that Ghost dragon is," Mabel answered. "You're supposed to get him to talk to Gaia, right? But the book keeps writing instead of showing me."

"That means it can't see him either," she said. "Ghost earned his title for two things. One, his appearance, and two, his ability to vanish by moving between the physical world and the spirit world."

"Earned?" Dipper tilted his head. "That's not his actual name?"

She shook her head. "He abandoned his name when he fled from the Nightmare Realm. The ancient humans he helped named him Seis, the dragon word for Ghost."

"He's from that place?!" Dipper was surprised. "I thought the dragons came from the Myth Realm?"

"Originally," she nodded. "A lot of them branched out between the main worlds. Most of them still live in Myth, though. Anyways, I already know where he is."

"Where?"

"He likes to hang around one of the nearby mountains. He uses his magic to keep people away from it, though."

"He hates company that much?" Dipper asked, half joking.

"Dragons don't trust humans anymore," Amy said. "But Ghost doesn't care about that. Since Valor died, Ghost took it upon himself to guard this world's tether tree, even though he's not connected to it as an official guardian." She sighed deeply. "Now there's just one problem… That lazy jerk is going to make me have to hike all the way up there just to tell him to do something."

The doorbell rang and Bud jumped down from the sofa to bark at the door. Amy nudged him out of the way with her knee and opened the door to find Wendy on the other side.

"What's up?" Wendy smiled at her.

"Ah, you're just in time. So, everyone's coming except Stan and Bud," Amy noted. She looked at Ford. "And you?"

"I can't pass up an opportunity to meet yet another dragon," he said as he hurried down the stairs to meet them. He was placing something into a satchel at his hip. "And one from the Nightmare Realm… Are you sure he's not evil?"

Amy shrugged. "Pretty sure. I mean, he's nice to me."

"So is Bill," Dipper muttered. "That doesn't mean anything."

"Well," she said. "If he was, I don't think he would have defended this world from his own brother."

"Who is his brother?"

She thought for a moment. "I think his name was Crusade. You can ask Ghost himself about it." She moved past Wendy and started walking towards the forest. "The base of the mountain is behind that canopied area of the forest."

…

They stared up at the slated slope before them. The base of the mountain was covered with trees and shrubs but the hard flint layers were easily noticed.

"The slates are like steps up the mountain," Amy said, "but they're steep and it's tiresome."

"Are you…going up the mountain?" A familiar soft voice caught their attention and they turned to see Flora emerge from among the trees. "Do you think Ghost will appear…with so many people around?"

"Flora!" Mabel ran up to the purple dragoness. Flora lowered her head to allow the girl to hug her face.

Amy glanced between Ford, Dipper, Mabel, and Wendy. "Well, nothing's happened to sway us away from the mountain, so he must be waiting for us."

Mabel gasped excitedly. "Flora! Do you want to come, too? Say yes!"

"I would love to," she said.

Amy led the way up the mountain while the others trailed behind exhausted. It was almost noon and the shady foliage was starting to thin out along the trail she chose to take. She was breathing heavily but was nowhere near exhaustion like the others; though Ford was keeping up rather well and showing less exhaustion. Flora was walking behind the group but she was neither exhausted nor out of breath and was keeping close behind them all to make sure they did not trip or fall. At some point earlier on, Bill had climbed onto the dragon's back and was lounging casually.

"Oh man," Dipper said as he wiped sweat from his forehead. "No offense Flora, but I wish you had wings."

"I offered to carry you as well…" she tilted her head. "But you and Bill…cannot seem to come to an agreement."

"I'm not sharing with any of those pests," Bill said.

"Look." Amy stopped and pointed to a ledge up ahead and to the right. "That's the halfway point of this mountain."

"Halfway?!" Mabel groaned. "We've been climbing forever! Why didn't we bring water?"

"The halfway point is where Ghost stays." With a sudden burst of energy, Amy quickly skipped across some slate ledges and climbed up onto the ledge. "There's water there, too."

Flora used her teeth to gently pick Mabel up by the back of her sweater and placed her onto the ledge. "Wait, I can-" Dipper tried to stop Flora as she lowered her head to pick him up. She grabbed his collar and swung him up carefully then used her tail to help Ford the rest of the way before picking up Wendy and climbing up herself.

The area behind the ledge was a flat, large open area circled by trees and grass. Towards the back, near the trees was a pool of clear water with a small stream stringing from it into the trees. The birch and pine trees were tall and their tops swayed slightly in a cool breeze.

"Water!" Mabel ran over to the pool and splashed her face into the water.

Amy made a face. "That's…one way to do it, I guess."

"Didn't you mention a tether tree?" Ford asked as he looked around. "None of these trees resemble the one we saw before."

"It's at the peak," she replied. "You'd be able to see it normally, but Ghost uses his magic to hide it."

"Why?" Dipper asked.

"Because humans are far too curious for their own good." A deep monotoned voice answered. "It is a foolish trait, but I admire your willingness to learn."

"Who said that?" Dipper tried not to stutter.

"You ask questions that you already have answers to. That is the foolish side showing." The pale figure of a dragon nearly twice Flora's size began to materialize before them. His broad wings were teased, like the ends of a tattered sheet, and his white scales were so smooth they were hardly noticeable. As his body became solid, he opened his large, emerald, oval eyes and fixed them on the visitors.

Ford and the kids stepped back as they looked up at the beast. The dragon held a constant serious expression and his voice did not shift in any way. They started to feel uneasy as he shifted his hands and feet but were surprised when he suddenly plopped down onto his belly and crossed his arms like a dog, letting out a big yawn.

"Ghost!" Amy suddenly seemed very happy.

He lowered his broad head as she ran up to him. "Greetings Amy."

She hugged the dragon's face; his head was too big for her to wrap her arms completely around. "You lazy jerk!" She let go, her usual feistiness returning. "You haven't visited for months!"

"Neither have you," he replied.

"You live on a mountain!" She stomped her foot. "Anyways, I guess you already know why we're here?"

"Gaia has asked you to locate me." He glanced at Flora then at the humans. "The humans have questions." He paused and watched Bill hop down from the dragoness's back. "Oh?" Ghost raised his head. "Amy, you got a new pet. What's that one's name?"

"Watch it, Ghost!" Bill snapped.

Ghost mocked surprise. "You taught it to speak? Does he do tricks?"

Amy laughed a little. "Ghost, why haven't you answered Gaia's summons? It must be important."

"Of course," he looked back at her, "but I was hoping to not get involved."

"Is that possible in this situation?"

"Unfortunately, no."

"What is it?" Dipper asked.

Ghost locked eyes on the boy, causing Dipper to tense. "Long ago, Gaia and Ouroboros sealed Ragnarok away in his realm, Necronire, after he slayed Valor. You already know this. Ragnarok has been trying to break free for a long time, at the same time, he has been collecting powerful energy so that he may crush anything or anyone that opposes him. He has succeeded in that part. However, he has had to use others to try and find him a way out of Necronire…until now."

There was an uneasy feeling. "What do you mean?" Dipper asked slowly.

"What I said was what I meant. Ragnarok has been absorbing power and magic from two things, Necronire itself, and the failures."

"Failures?" Wendy raised an eyebrow.

"Anyone that fails at a task Ragnarok gives them is punished harshly." Ghost paused as if remembering something. "He rarely gives second chances. When a powerful being, such as a dragon, kills another magical or powerful being, they are able to steal the slain one's power. Ragnarok has killed many. Soon, he will be able to tear a rift between worlds and escape."

Bill shrugged. "Taking what's he's owed. So what?"

Ghost narrowed his eyes at him. "Ragnarok's intentions are not so docile, and you know it. Foolish beast, you may think you have things on your side of the playing field, but for once, you are the one being used. You have been all along."

He seemed oddly defensive now. "He has his intentions, I have mine."

Ghost huffed a laugh, interrupting him. "Your intentions and the reasons behind them are foolish. You cannot see the light for what it is. You choose not to. For one who once held such power, you are an ignorant fool."

"What did you say?!" Bill snapped.

"I should kill you now." Ghost leaned forward with his eyes narrowed to slits. "You are vulnerable and weak."

"Like your lazy ass -"

"Ooookay!" Amy stepped between them. "This took a much faster turn than I expected." She stopped Bill before he could say anything else. "No! Stop talking. Ghost, stop antagonizing him. Don't even look at each other!" Bill's expression shifted from anger to concern then immediately back to anger.

Ghost said nothing in response and watched Ford closely as the man came close to examine him, though there was no worry in the dragon's stone-faced expression.

"Incredible," Ford mumbled and he sketched in a notebook. "You're really from the Nightmare Realm, sorry, Necronire? You seem much more…tame than what I've seen of that place."

"We are not born evil," Ghost said. "What we choose to make of the knowledge we gather influences our thoughts and actions. Your personal beliefs and philosophies determine your morals, whether you are 'good' or 'bad.' As do the things you experience in life and what you decide to make of them. Some are born with pure thoughts and motifs while others are inherently mischievous and strange. Others are just insane." He looked at Bill as he said that last part.

"Amy mentioned that you fled from your world. Why?"

"That place is not bad, just chaotic. But all things in that world work under the rule of Ragnarok. Ragnarok is what one would call evil. He lusts for bloodshed and destruction and holds no remorse over anything. Being a part of that world meant doing his bidding and suffering the constant fear of failure, in which case, failure meant death." Ghost stopped for a moment. "Long ago, I followed him blindly, carrying out orders and killing off whatever he deemed useless or unworthy. I obeyed, and when I was not the one doing these tasks, I watched. I watched them all, the followers, the runners, the bystanders and the failures. Not a single one of them did not fear him. Their eyes, even the most confident and loyal ones, gave away their fear. If not for Ragnarok, that world would be tolerable. Chaotic, but tolerable without a constant fear of death."

"That's…really messed up," Dipper said.

"Seriously," Wendy added.

Ghost nodded. "Before Necronire was sealed shut, I left and came to this world with my younger sibling. We decided to stay and guard this world's tether. Ancient humans that knew of our existence often visited me here. They believed me to be some sort of god." He huffed. "They would climb to this point and offer me food or objects in exchange for knowledge. Not that I needed, or wanted, what they offered. I found their curiosity amusing, but I quickly learned that humans were easily influenced and misguided. I made the mistake of telling them about the existence of other realms. It wasn't long before they began searching for ways to reach the other worlds or contact beings from them. They discovered ways to summon creatures and entities, the kind that do the summoner's bidding." He glanced at Bill. "Some of them discovered a way to summon him. That was when they began to regret meddling in the field of magic. Humans are born without it for a reason. They came to me for help so I showed them how to use the zodiacs to their advantage."

"You taught the ancient people to use the zodiac?" Ford was astounded.

Ghost stared at him for a long moment before continuing. "It is the simplest way for those without magic to seal something away. But it is very specific."

"So," Mabel tilted her head, "where's your brother?"

He closed his eyes for a moment then fixed them on a strange pattern in the ground they stood on. They all followed his gaze to finally notice the spiraling marks in the rock. "This mark pinpoints the spot where I created a portal to the Spirit Realm. The humans dubbed me Seis, or Ghost in your tongue. They came to know my brother as Revolune, meaning Crusade. Crusade wished to purge this world of all humankind after coming to the conclusion that humans were a parasite. He only ever paid heed to their darker attributes and in the end, he ended up convincing himself that they were bad and needed to be removed. It pained me to go against him, but his views had become twisted and dark. He had become a threat to this world's balance, but instead of destroying him I sealed him away in the Spirit Realm using the portal I had created in hopes that he may see the truth one day."

"The Spirit Realm is different from Sava, correct?" Ford asked.

He nodded. "Sava is the world of the dead. The afterlife, if you will. The Spirit Realm is the plane of existence connected to all worlds. It is a silent plane that mirrors the physical world. Both spirits and the souls of wandering departed can move between them."

"What about you?"

"I am neither a spirit nor am I dead. I simply retain the ability my mother had. The ability to slip between worlds and planes. To turn my physical body into an ethereal one or even an imaginary one."

"Meaning…you can move through the mindscape!" Ford looked excited.

"Indeed." Ghost nodded. "There are certain beings with a powerful and unique magic that allows them to do such things. As dragons, they are called dreamweavers, such as myself. Like spirits, we can pass between planes and realities. My brother does not retain our mother's ability, so he is trapped within the Spirit Realm because of me. It was the safest option for himself and others."

"So, if spirits and the departed are different," Wendy said, "what are spirits?"

"Spirits are physical embodiments of magic and light. Just like magic, they originally come from Telmak. But they can be found in any world where there is magic. Especially natural magic. They are strange, long-lived creatures that take many forms and serve many purposes, and they are capable of passing between realms as such mentioned before. Spirits are living creatures made up entirely of magic and light. They are born from the magic concentrations of worlds and assist in nature's endeavors. Many of them birth from the tether trees. When they die, their body fades away and their light appears in Telmak's sky, and they become a part of Starpelt."

Before any of them could ask any more questions, Ghost yawned loudly all of a sudden and caused them to jump. "Enough. I am done for today." He stood up on all fours and stretched his large wings. "I will fly you back to Amy's home."

"We get to ride a dragon…in the air!?" Mabel excitedly ran up to him and started trying to climb up the dragon's arm.

"I will get down…on my own." Flora said. "Ghost…I will meet you at the gate…to Telmak."

"Very well," he grunted and waited for the others to situate themselves on his back, exchanging a leer with Bill as he passed. Once they were settled, he began flapping his wings as they disappeared from view and lifted into the air.

"What was that feeling just now?" Dipper looked himself over.

"We have entered the Spirit Realm," Ghost replied as he straightened out and took off down the mountain.

"Everything looks the same," Dipper held his hat down. "Except, it's kind of paler I guess."

"We are undetectable to the physical world right now, unless I decide otherwise." As he came close to the trees at the mountain's base, he lifted himself to fly straight over the treetops. The ride was surprisingly smooth and it only took a few moments before they were landing in front of Amy's house and back in the physical world.

"Flying is so much better than walking," Mabel sighed.

"And faster," her brother agreed.

Ghost leaned his head down and nudged Amy's back. "I shall return within the next few days."

"Hopefully with good news," she said.

He nodded. "Be careful. Ragnarok's attempts at breaking through are disturbing many things. Strange creatures and phenomena are bound to occur."

"Yeah, that already occurs in my house on a daily basis." She smiled and hugged him before he vanished.

"What's for food?" Mabel's shout from the house made her laugh.

To be continued…

Starpelt is NOT a reference or anything to Warriors. It was truly a coincidence/accident, lol. Also, think of the Spirit Realm sort of similar to the spirit world in Avatar the Last Airbender where it mirrors the physical world, but also has it's own weird places, too.