Okay so I accidentally lied in the last chapter. There's actually going to be 37 chapters, not 36. THEN the epilogue stuff. Whoops.
It was Summerween evening, something that Amy did not participate in since she lived in the middle of the woods, so children would not be coming knock on her door for candy. Unlike Mabel, Amy saw this as a good thing. She did not have to feel obligated to buy candy for strangers' children, children would not come around to bother her, and Bill would not be able to terrorize said children. Mabel at least agreed with that last part.
Still, Mabel wanted to at least get out of the house for the night and walk around the town. She did not want to go alone, but her brother was more than willing to accompany her so he could escape Bill for a few hours.
"The guy has it out for me, Mabel," he was saying as they walked along the sidewalk past trick-or-treaters carrying bags of goodies.
She shrugged. "He hates all of us, Dipper. Except Amy," she added with a smirk.
"Yeah, but it's like he hates me the most! He messes with you guys when he has the chance, sure, but he actively seeks me out to torment me! It's not like I'm the only one who foiled all his world domination plans! If anything, he should have it out more for Ford."
"Maybe you're just an easy target?"
"What's that supposed to mean!?" He looked offended.
"I don't know. I guess, like, your reactions are more over the top or funny to him or something. You do freak out a lot."
"No I don't!" Something rustled the bushes nearby and he yelled and jumped away from them. Seconds later, a stray cat bounded out from the bushes and darted across the street. He leered at his sister as she snickered at him. "Anyways… Just today he's tripped me down the stairs, caused my waffles to come to life and try to eat me, set my shoes on fire, and smashed my toe with a hammer!"
"The hammer thing was an accident. He even said it was."
"Yeah, but he wasn't sorry about it! He even laughed and called it a 'happy little accident'. And threatening to tell Amy hardly bothers him. Bill is making my life miserable."
"That's the point. Stop letting him win. If you're bothered, he'll definitely keep doing it." She thought for a moment. "Like a school bully."
"This is no ordinary bully…" He sighed. "I just wish I could get back at him. Just once. That's all I want and I'll be happy."
"Oh, you poor thing…" a mysterious feminine voice growled from somewhere around them.
The twins huddled close together and frantically looked for the source of the voice. They were not paying attention while they were walking and ended up reaching the tree line of another forest at the edge of the town's suburbs. They did not recognize the voice.
"Who's there?!" Dipper snapped.
"No need to be so aggressive," she said with a hint of amusement in her tone. "We're all friends here…" she growled softly.
"Are we?"
"But of course!"
They spun around, as the voice was suddenly closer and behind them now. They were quite surprised to see a tall, pretty woman with long black hair looking down at them with a single crimson eye; the other was not visible under her long side-swept bangs. She wore black lipstick and a black and gold-trimmed dress. Hanging from her earlobes were hollow golden triangles. A matching one was pinned to the front of her dress in the center of her waist.
"Hello darlings." She smiled at them and touched her finger to her bottom lip. "Oh, don't look so startled."
"Who are you?"
"I have many names. But I normally go by Atë."
"Atë?"
"Tell me darlings… The one you were speaking of is Bill Cipher, yes?"
"What? How do you know that?"
"Oh, I know lots of things, my dear. Lots of things…"
Mabel moved closer to her brother. "How do you know Bill?"
Her eye widened. "How? Sweet child, nearly everyone knows who Bill Cipher is. Besides humans." She sighed dreamily. "Oh how I envy humans and their naivety. If only I could be so oblivious myself… Alas, omnipotent sight is both a gift and a terrible curse."
Dipper raised an eyebrow at her. "What are you?" he asked slowly. She looked like a human, but from his experience, he had learned that things were not always the way they seemed. Either she was some frightening being in disguise, or she was just some nut they had happened to encounter. Unfortunately, the former seemed the most likely.
"Your new friend." She grinned. "Say… You want to get payback, right? But getting revenge against someone like Bill is such a difficult task for you, hm? Even in his current state… Even if you did manage to get back at him, it would only fuel his desire to cause you suffering."
"What are you getting at?"
"Hush now, boy. Listen…" She leaned towards him, her golden earrings glinting with the light of a streetlamp. For a moment, he thought he saw a similar glint in her eye. "Have you ever heard of an amaranth?"
"The undying flower? Yeah."
"Of course you have!" She smiled happily. "But did you know there are different kinds? There is one kind that will help you get what you desire. Payback…" Before either twin had the chance to speak, she quickly added, "Oh, but don't fret! It's nothing terribly harsh. But it will be enough to get him to leave you alone."
"Really? Like, he won't ever bother me again?"
"Precisely…"
Dipper was both excited and curious. "Okay. What kind is it? Where do I find it?"
"It's called the Nightshade Amaranth. A lovely little thing, really. Absolutely darling. It can be found in Telmak."
"Specifically…?"
She pointed at his vest. "You have a guide to show you the way already. All you have to do is ask." She straightened herself up and turned to walk back to the trees. "I should really be going now. The moon excites me too much to stay… It really gets my blood boiling." She turned the upper half of her body to look back at them and waved her fingers at them. "Farewell, darlings."
"W-Wait! What's a flower going to do to help me? What do I do with it?"
"Once you obtain it, just bring it to Bill. That's all you'll need to do…"
They watched her disappear in the shadows of the trees before exchanging glances. Dipper pulled the Enchiridion out from his vest and opened it. "Where can I find a Nightshade Amaranth?"
The book flipped three pages then sketched an image of a black, lily-like flower. On the page next to it, it sketched them an image of a map labeled with the dragon writing. A red dotted line began to make its way along the map, starting from an archway and ending with a circled x in a gray-colored area.
Dipper noticed the large tree drawn in the center of the map. "This must be a map of Telmak. Come on, Mabel!"
…
The twins stared at the active portal in the deep woods. It was already active and swirling with magic when they reached it. "Weird," Dipper said. "I thought the portal had to be activated by someone like Flora."
"Yeah." Mabel looked around. "Where is she anyway?"
The boy stepped through the portal with his sister just behind and stepped out onto the grassy field. "All right, where to next?" He looked at the book's map and began following the trail it had drawn, heading west.
Along the way, they passed through a lush marsh area where Mabel kept getting distracted by all of the animals and greeting every dragon they met. The dragons eyed them curiously but did not seem bothered by their presence. A few young dragonlings even chased playfully after them for a while before being called back by their mother.
After exiting the marsh, they crossed through a field of dried grass that was so tall it touched their chins. Finally, they reached the end of the tall grass and found themselves in a gloomy gray area covered with ash and dotted with dead, black trees. Even the sky above was hidden by dark clouds.
"Well, this place is depressing," Dipper stated bluntly.
"Hey, look over there!" Mabel pointed to where several patches of glowing red light littered the ground around some trees.
"That must be it," Dipper said as he crouched down to look at the black palm-sized flowers. They were covered with white specks and glowed an eerie red color. "Please don't have thorns." He carefully pulled one of the flowers from the cluster and looked it over. "Huh, all right then. Simple enough."
"Good," Mabel nodded. "Now let's get out of here. The lack of color is starting to get to me."
…
When they returned home, it was after midnight, but Amy was still awake and looking over something in the old barn. Meanwhile, Bill was crouched outside and off to the side of the barn. He was examining Bud carefully for some reason.
"I wonder what giving him a flower will do to get your payback?" Mabel mused as they walked towards Bill.
Dipper shrugged. "I don't know. Hey, Bill!" he called his attention as they reached him.
"Why are you talking to me?" He growled. He continued looking over the dog for another moment before he stood up and turned his full attention on the boy. "What? Do you want me to kick your ass?"
"Actually, I have something here that I think will help me get revenge for all of the torment you've been putting me through."
Bill laughed. "Oh, and what would that be?"
Dipper unwrapped the towel he had covered the flower with and held it up to Bill. Bill's bored expression quickly turned to shock as he realized what he was looking at. He jumped back but the flower's magical aroma had already reached him and his vision swayed slightly. He went to say something but an immense pain in his head stopped him.
Amy had just stepped out from the old barn and glanced over in time to notice. She tensed at the sight of the plant. "Get that out of here! Are you crazy!?"
"What? What is it?" Dipper covered the flower and stepped back.
"That's a Nightshade Amaranth! Just being around it is deadly!"
"What!?" He dropped the covered flower on the ground and quickly stepped away from it.
Amy went to say something but gasped instead when Bill suddenly collapsed. She hurried over and felt his forehead. "There's already a fever," she said to herself.
"Fever?" Mabel echoed. "What's wrong?"
"Indeed…" They looked to see Flora approaching slowly. The dragoness stopped a few yards away and examined the situation. "…What has happened?"
"Flora!" Mabel ran over to her. "Dipper and I brought back this black glowy flower called Nightshade Amaranth and then it made Bill sick or something!"
Flora hissed, a disgusted expression on her face. "Nightshade Amaranth…is deadly to dragons… The smell alone…can bring a dragon's end."
"We didn't know," Dipper explained. "Besides, Bill's not a dragon. Why's it affecting him?"
She shook her head. "Quickly…" She helped Amy lift him. "Bring him inside… I shall seek out the Blood Amaranth."
"What does that one do?" Dipper asked.
Flora helped bring Bill over to the house and watched from the door as Amy brought him upstairs. "The Blood Amaranth…is perfect for flushing all toxins from the body… It will increase his chances…of surviving."
"Whoa, hold on. Surviving? Something that simple can kill him?"
"I am not sure…it has only been known to affect dragons… He is having the same symptoms…of Shadow Fever." She stood up on her hindlegs and lifted her head to Amy's window to watch her place him on the bed. "It is a…black magic curse. The scent of Nightshade Amaranth…causes Shadow Fever. Shadow Fever…is quick and deadly. Blood Amaranth helps…but there is no guarantee."
"Oh man," Dipper said. "I actually feel bad…well, for Amy. Man, Amy's going to kill me! Where do we get Blood Amaranth?!"
She looked down at him. "It grows at the base…of Mount Carver…the great volcano that shaped the land of Telmak. It is the home of…a great phoenix that fell from the sun…and brought light to Telmak. I am going there now… Do you wish to come?"
"Come on Dipper!" Mabel ran over to Flora and climbed up to the dragon's shoulders.
"I'm coming," he said as he ran over. "But I'm only helping for Amy's sake."
"Pfft, you're just scared she'll hate you forever."
"Uh, yeah. I am."
"Where are the two of you going?" They were surprised to see their great uncle Ford approaching.
"We're going to a volcano," Mabel told him.
"Volcano?"
Dipper quickly explained the situation. "Yeah, so now we need a different flower that grows around some ancient volcano or something."
Ford examined the lump of towel on the ground that covered the black flower. "Incredible. Something so simple is capable of actually killing an immortal being?" He looked up at them on the dragon's back. "Why are you two trying to save him? Have you forgotten who he is?" The twins exchanged worried looks. "And Flora, the dragons know of Bill, right? So why would you want to help?"
"He helped the dragons once…a long time ago… One is not born evil…" she said softly. "It is their surroundings…and experiences that mold them… Some are born with distorted minds…or broken realities… It is not their fault."
"How can you possibly see the good in people like that?" He shook his head, trying to understand, then looked back to the covered flower.
"You wish to study the Nightshade Amaranth…" Flora narrowed her green eyes. "I will allow you to take it…but I also must inform Mother Gaia that you have it… If further incidents occur…you will be held accountable. It is dangerous to Amy…please…keep it contained." She turned towards the forest. "There is no longer any time to speak…we must go. We shall return on the morrow." Taking a few steps, she stopped and looked back at the old man. "Our survival is tied…to him."
"Who?" Ford looked up. "What do you mean?" But the usually slow-moving dragon had bounded off towards the trees with the twins on her back.
Flora did not slow her pace even as they entered the thicker part of the woods. She kept straight and the trees themselves seemed to move out of her way. Her eyes flashed as the gateway came into view and the portal lit up with its swirling light. She didn't stop until they had plunged right through the vortex and appeared in the flower-dotted field on the other side.
"You're a lot faster than I thought, Flora." Mabel patted the dragon's large shoulder.
"How far is the volcano from here?" her brother asked.
Flora craned her long neck around and pointed with her snout. "Mount Carver…is located south…directly on the hemisphere. Walking from this location…would take twelve days…to reach its base."
"Twelve days?! How are we going to be back by tomorrow?"
Flora chuckled. "Dragons use gateways…placed by Mother Gaia…to save time. Though…as immortals…we have all the time in the world. Unfortunately…there is not much left."
"Wait, there isn't? Are you saying the world is ending?" His voice cracked a little.
"Ragnarok's return is inevitable. If Ragnarok succeeds in his plan…everything will perish." She walked around the stone gateway they had just come from and began heading over a hill. "That time is approaching…swiftly."
"Isn't there anything that can stop him?"
"According to Gaia and Ouroboros…yes. However…it is not certain that it will work."
"What is it?" Mabel asked.
"We will all play our part…for now…we must wait until it is our cue."
"That's not what I asked."
Flora stopped at the top of the hill and looked down at a red stone gateway that looked highly out of place in the grassy green field. Her eyes flashed and it lit up with an orange vortex. "That is the gateway to Mount Carver…"
…
Bud whimpered as Amy placed a cool damp towel on Bill's forehead. "I know Bud, nothing like this has happened before…" It was weird to see Bill, of all people, helpless and seemingly restless. "Can you hear me?" She asked, but he only clenched his teeth and grunted. "Oh…I hope Ghost comes back soon. He always knows what to do."
…
"Strange…" Flora glanced around. They were standing near the base of an absolutely massive volcano surrounded by tropical bushes and trees. "The flowers…are not here."
"What?" Mabel pushed some leafy plants aside. "Are you sure? What do they look like?"
"They are red…and glow…but they are not here. I cannot sense them." She looked up at the volcano. "Something is-" Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to shake violently.
"An earthquake?!" Dipper tried to stay standing but ended up falling over and grabbing the trunk of a thin tree.
"The volcano!" Mabel shouted. The tip of the mountain was smoking, sending ashes down like snow. "It's gonna blow!" After a few moments the shaking stopped but the ashes continued to fall.
Flora shook her head and helped Dipper stand back up. "Mount Carver has only erupted twice…once to carve and shape the land…twice to destroy the darkness that once plagued us. Only the phoenix can set it off…but she would not do so without warning or reason." Flora began climbing a little way up the mountainside.
"Hey, where are you going?!"
She flinched slightly then turned to look at him. "I am sorry…I sensed pain…so I instinctively wanted to help."
"Who's hurt?" Mabel tilted her head.
The dragon looked confused. "I…do not know. Someone is calling for help…up there." She pointed to the volcano's peak.
"You've got to be kidding." Dipper rubbed his face.
"Forgive me…" Flora lowered her head. "It is my duty…to help those in pain."
"I know, it's fine." He sighed. "All right, let's get up there. Do you think you can climb as fast as you can run?"
She let the twins climb onto her back. "Perhaps…" As soon as they had settled, she bounded up the red mountain, using her long claws like anchors in the soil and rock then pulling herself up and lunging forward all in quick movements. The two humans had to hold tightly to the spikes down her spine so that they wouldn't fall. She was climbing at an almost completely vertical angle.
"I can't believe you climbed this huge volcano so fast," Dipper gasped. The whole way up he felt like he wasn't breathing.
"When you don't have wings…you make up for it in speed or armor."
"Why didn't you do that when we were climbing to go see Ghost?"
"Bill did not want to share," she replied.
"Whoa!" Mabel peered into the volcano's mouth. "The lava's waaay down there. Hey, there's something else down there!"
The volcano rumbled again, knocking them off balance and causing Mabel to fall in. "Mabel!" Dipper shouted. He screamed as Flora grabbed him by his shirt and dived into the mouth. He was still screaming even after they had landed safely on a protruding ledge. "AAHHHHhhhhhh…oh…we stopped." Flora placed him down and Mabel came out of nowhere and embraced him. "Mabel! You're alive!"
"Yep! Also, I think my butt's broken…but I'm A-Okay!"
"You know Flora," he looked at the dragoness, "you could've warned me before you picked me up and jumped into a volcano! How did you see this ledge from up there?"
"I did not."
"What!?"
"Guys, look!" Mabel drew their attention to something just below the ledge.
In the center of the volcano, hundreds of feet above the lava and wrapped in golden chains, was a massive crimson bird, hawk-like in appearance with a crest on its head, and similar in size to Gaia. The chains extended tautly and connected to the walls in several directions.
Flora was shocked. "What has happened? Why is she bound?"
The bird suddenly looked up at them with a furious look. She screeched loudly and spat a huge fireball in their direction. Flora quickly pulled the twins back from the edge and the fireball blasted right past them. The bird screeched angrily and thrashed, but the chains held tight.
"I thought the phoenix was good!" Mabel said.
"I do not know what happened…" Flora shared her worried expression. "But she is infuriated…"
As the phoenix thrashed, the volcano shook and the lava began bubbling aggressively.
"Maybe she'll calm down if we get her out of those chains," Mabel glanced over the ledge to see them.
"Are you crazy?!" her brother gasped. "If we let her loose she might kill us!"
"Perhaps Mabel is correct…"
"What?!"
Flora looked at him. "The chains are glowing with an enchantment…it must be a curse. Under her fury…I sense pain…a cry for help."
"If they're cursed, how are we going to do anything?" he asked as the rumbling ceased.
"…I may be able to break them at their bases…but I need to get closer…and I cannot withstand…such powerful fire magic. It would be easier…if I could fly."
"What you lack in wings you make up for in speed, right?" Mabel grinned. "We can distract her while you hurry and break those chains."
"How are we going to do that?" Dipper asked.
"Rocks!" Mabel scooped up a bunch of sharp stones around them. "I'm pretty sure this used to be a bigger rock until I fell on it." Flora and Dipper exchanged looks.
Flora carefully maneuvered along rocky ledges and gaps until she reached the base of one of the large chains behind the phoenix. She stared at the base and her eyes glowered, causing thick spiked roots to extend from the wall and wrap around part of the chain. Quickly, she glanced up at the humans and they nodded.
"Hey, bird!" Mabel yelled, chucking a rock down at the phoenix's head. The bird glared at her and let out a roar-like screech that caused Mabel to almost lose her balance. "Yep! You just keep yelling at me, pretty birdie." She tossed another rock that bounced off the bird's curved beak.
Flora quickly crawled along the jagged walls until she reached another chain. Her progress kept getting hindered slightly by the volcano's shaking as the phoenix grew angrier.
"We're running out of rocks here!" Dipper called.
There was only one chain left, one directly across from the phoenix's front. The dragoness waited for them to distract it again before rushing over to the chain. As soon as she had set up the last tangle of roots her eyes lit up like green fire and the roots did the same. The glowing grew brighter and brighter and the roots began to emit a strange high-pitched sound that caught the bird's attention.
The phoenix screeched at Flora and blasted a fireball at her just as a loud echoing sound of metal splitting set off and the chains released from the walls. Both Flora and the phoenix began to fall towards the bubbling lava below.
"Flora!" the twins cried out helplessly.
As the massive bird was falling, the rest of the chains wrapped around her came loose and she extended her neck to fall like an arrow into the lava. Immediately after plunging into the lava, a huge plume of fire and lava blasted upwards and out through the mouth of the volcano, carrying the three visitors with it. As the plume reached the sky, two flaming wings extended from it and the fire burst away in all directions like multiple beacons shooting through the sky. Left in its wake was the crimson-feathered bird.
"Oh my gosh!" Dipper gasped as they landed at the mountain's base. "I thought we were gonna get burned to a crisp by that blast of fire!"
"Flora, you're okay!" Mabel ran over and hugged the dragon's neck as she rolled over onto her feet.
The huge bird landed hard on the ground in front of them. She extended her wings and let out a long, thunderous screech. They thought for sure that the bird was about to burn them to ash until she suddenly folded her wings and fixed a fierce, but calm stare on them. "Greetings!" her voice was commanding and loud, causing them to flinch. "I am the great phoenix, Dawnbringer! I am the one who brought light to this world! I must thank you, as well as apologize for my aggression. As Ragnarok grows nearer, his shadows are becoming more active. The wicked things even managed to bind me to my own sanctuary! Then the three of you came along…"
She fixed the humans with her piercing gaze. The morning sunlight caused her crimson and gold feathers to glisten. "Tell me, why have you three come here? No one knew of my imprisonment, so you must have come for something else."
"We came for a Blood Amaranth," Dipper explained, "but there aren't any here."
"Not a problem!" Dawnbringer spread her wings and her feathers began to sparkle more. "There is no longer any need to hide! Come little ones, bask in the Divine Sun's light!" Hundreds of sparkling red flower buds began sprouting all around them, bursting into full bloom upon facing Dawnbringer's light. She looked down at the three. "Take only what you need and nothing more! And, as thanks for saving me, if ever you need my help and I am able, I shall soar to your side. Farewell, until the next time!" With a single flap of her wings, she took off into the lightening sky with a loud screech.
"I like her." Mabel smiled.
"Quickly now," Flora said as she lowered herself for them. "Take an amaranth and climb onto my back… We must bring the flower to him…as soon as we can."
…
Flora bolted from the trees and came to an abrupt halt as she landed in the clearing. The sudden stop caused the humans on her back to jerk forward roughly. "Are you trying to break our necks?!" Dipper rubbed the back of his neck.
"Sorry…"
They slid down from her back and ran over to the house, surprised to see Ghost there. He was sitting on his haunches with his head up to the circular window of Amy's room.
"I didn't even know that window could open," Dipper said.
Ghost retracted his head and looked down at the twins. He eyed the red flower in Mabel's hands. "A Blood Amaranth. I suppose that could help."
"I hope so." Dipper glanced at his sister. "We had to go in a volcano for it."
He was a bit surprised that Ghost did not question that. Instead, the stone-faced dragon scooped the flower up with the tip of his tail and brought it to the window for Amy. "Just keep it near him. The scent itself will do the job." He turned back to the twins. "Explain."
"What?" Dipper was lost.
His eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "What were you doing with Nightshade Amaranth?" His voice was level but there was an edge of anger. "Have you any idea what that is?"
"Not at first…" The boy shifted his feet awkwardly under the dragon's stare. "A lady told us about it and said that it would help me get payback for him always messing with me. But she said that it wasn't dangerous!"
"You had no right to take something from Telmak and bring it here." Ghost told him. "And who is this woman you speak of?"
"She called herself Atë," Mabel told him.
Ghost's eyes actually widened in surprise for a brief moment before he turned away. "I see… But as I said, you should not take things from Telmak and bring them here. And do not speak with that woman again," he said firmly.
"Why?" Dipper asked. "Who is she?"
"Someone that nosy little mortals should steer clear of," he growled.
"Be kind…" Flora walked over and stood over the siblings like a mother dragon protecting her young. "You cannot expect them to know better…"
Ghost snorted, puffs of smoke shooting from his nostrils. A sign of annoyance. "From now on, they are not allowed in Telmak without either you or me as an escort."
"That is fair…" Flora nodded.
"So…" Dipper kicked at a pebble. "What now?"
"Now, we wait." Ghost replied. "No dragon has ever survived Shadow Fever."
"But he's not a dragon."
Ghost looked back through the window. "Then we shall see."
To be continued…
I based Dawnbringer off of two characters: Moltres from Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red and Blue, and Yellow Diamond from Steven Universe, lol.