Tales Of The Flame & The Ax: A Shooting Star Falls Story

Part Twenty - Three: How To Draw The Line Between Wrath & Mercy

After the Pines sisters had left the house, Grendy and Courtney retreated to the auburn haired girl's bedroom. "Court, I think it was really great of you to forgive Mabel like that. The old Courtney would have never let something like that go so quickly" Grendy remarked as she helped clean up the room of her girlfriend. "I'm still working on it, but I'm learning how to draw the line between wrath and mercy. Sometimes you just have to calm down and think about things before you act on your feelings" the redhead answered. "That might be the most self-aware thing I've ever heard anyone say…" Grendy said as a smile formed on her face. "It's easy when you've been in a similar place. I just hope she sorts all her shit out a lot quicker than I did. I know I'm way too young to have regrets in my life, but I do have them about how I acted like a scumbag the past few years. I've said and done things that I know I can't ever fully undo. I can only hope that I'm given another chance by those I've hurt the most" Courtney said as she picked out her clothes for the day. "Still, sometimes you have to make split-second decisions, like with Hannah. I tried, G. I really did. She just couldn't stop, could she?" the ginger girl remarked. "Welp, now the bitch has a broken nose to show for it. Maybe she'll learn that sometimes it isn't wise to push someone past their breaking point" the lanky young woman replied. "Speaking of which, I really should get this thing checked out, shouldn't I?" Courtney said as she held up her bruised and swollen hand, which was beginning to resemble a catcher's mitt. All her girlfriend could do was grimace at the sight of it and let out a groan.

The now possessed body of Ariel Gleeful had woken up from her slumber and tried to remember exactly how the teenager would go about her day. While she had done her proper reconnaissance on the white haired girl, it had been nearly two hundred years since she had last inhabited a human. The world she now found herself in was vastly different than the one in the 1860's. Standing in the shower with the warm water cascading over her vessel, she realized just how long it had been since she had felt any sort of sensation. It was almost a sensory overload as she continued to let it cascade over her. Realizing that she had been in the shower for nearly fifteen minutes, Ariel stepped out and wiped away the condensation that had formed on the large bathroom mirror. "Damn. This body is gonna be a whole lot of fun to inhabit…" she remarked while a smile formed on her face as she thought of how best to use it to her advantage. Wrapping herself up in a towel, she made the short trip back to her bedroom and began the search for some clothing. Opening the dresser drawers, she was taken aback by the fact that all of their contents formed the same outfit. Long white socks, plain white undergarments, a sky blue pleated skirt, a white button up blouse, a black skinny tie and a matching sky blue blazer were all that the four drawer chest held. She was about to adorn herself in the boring and conservative attire when a plastic bag on the carpeted floor caught her attention. Opening it up, the smile once returned to her face.

Having made her way downstairs, she headed to the kitchen, where she heard the voices of the rest of the Gleeful family. The trio had been discussing the untimely demise of Amber Brown when their collective jaws hit the ground. Dressed in a pair of short denim shorts, one of her white button up blouses that was tied just beneath her bust and a blazer that now was missing its sleeves, it was a stark departure from her usually much more conservative look. "Mother… Father… Brother…" she said while taking a seat at the table. The room continued to be draped in silence as the teen girl selected her meal from the spread laid out on the table. "Nope. No way, missy…" Gideon finally said as he locked eyes with the teenage girl. "Whatever do you mean, father?" she asked in an innocent tone before kicking her feet up on the table. "That's not how members of the Gleeful family dress and for Christ's sake, get your feet off the damn table!" he replied to his biologically engineered child while trying to reign in his anger at her. "C'mon Gideon, she's at that age where she's figuring herself out and trying to push the limits with us…" she whispered into the ear of her crush. 'No gatdang way is she gonna go outside this house looking like some twenty dollar street walker…" the white haired patriarch replied in a tone loud enough for everyone to hear. All the while, Ariel continued to eat as if nothing was going on, glad that her little acts of defiance were getting to him. Letting out a loud belch, the teenager got up from her seat and headed back upstairs as the rest of her family stood dumbstruck. "That's all you, dear…" the Senator said as he looked towards the woman of science who masqueraded as the twin's parents.

Mabel and Wendy Pines walked out of the Gravity Falls Police Department, where they had gone a few hours prior to file a report on what had transpired the previous night. It had been a grueling process, but the young woman hoped that by stepping forward that she could perhaps spare another girl a similar or possibly even worse fate than hers. "Mabes, I know that was really tough, but I'm so proud of you for doing the right thing. Hopefully, they have enough evidence to bring him in and at the very least scare him enough to stop doing it" the former officer said as the pair walked towards the car. "Thanks… Let's hope that's the case" was all that the auburn haired girl was able to muster as she continued to sort out her feelings about the past day. The car ride home was spent listening to music as both mother and daughter thought of how best to move on from the incident. Wendy knew that Shaun would be called to the station in order to give his side of things and he likely would lie about the whole ordeal. He'd probably try to shift the blame to Mabel for simply being a female and that thought caused thirty-six year old to become angry. That was part of the reason that both mother and daughter had consented to the full medical examination. The contents of her blood sample wouldn't be fully known for around a week, but Wendy hoped it would help confirm what both already strongly suspected; that Mabel Elise Pines had been given a spiked drink in order to be preyed upon by Shaun.

The body of Ariel Gleeful headed back upstairs with one goal in mind; to recover her supernatural abilities and begin her takeover of yet another dimension. Lying down on the bed, she flipped open the jewel encrusted tome and began to read from its yellowed pages. She had gotten halfway through the first chapter when she heard a light knock on her bedroom door. "Yeah?" the teenager responded in an annoyed tone. "Ariel, honey, its mommy… I wanted to talk to you" Jennifer replied while opening the door. "Look. I know that you're going through a whole bunch of things right now, but maybe you could kinda ease us into this whole rebellious phase of yours. I mean, I'm not telling you who to be or anything, it's just that your father and I have certain expectations of you an-" the blonde began before being cut off. "Okay. First of all… You're not my fucking mother. I know that Baron and I were some sort of science project that you and Gideon cooked up in order to give him a more favorable appearance to those mindless sheep that you call voters. I'm nothing more than a prop for his twisted scheme and your breakthrough experiment that you hope will help you become noticed in the world of science. He's a demagogue and you're nothing more than sad little girl who's trying to live up to her grandfather's expectations by trying to play God… D-Did I get it right? Now, you're gonna do whatever I say and I'll keep this from the press. Understood?" the white haired girl said as she watched the usually peppy woman take each biting word like a bullet; her eyes filling with tears that soon breached her eyelids and streamed down her reddened cheeks as she nodded in agreement with the offer. Jennifer turned and ran out of the room as a wicked smile formed on the face of Ariel. "Humans and their dumb emotions... It's way too easy to manipulate them… A few well-placed words can do far more damage than a weapon ever could" she said with a chuckle as she returned to her study of the ancient book.

Author's Note: Sorry for the short chapter, but I had some things coming up that were going to command a lot of my time and I figured I'd at least advance the story a little bit for you guys. Since I blew up the back half of this story, I'm pretty much posting chapters as soon as I finish them. I have written down a whole narrative of how I want the story to go, but a lot of it is sorta written on the fly. Okay, so onto the story. I'm still sort of figuring out how the whole being booted from your body by a demon deal works, as Gravity Falls was never 100% clear on that one. I wanna say that Ariel is in the mindscape and the only way she can be heard by people is by entering their dreams, but I'm not fully sure on that, so I have to make sure I didn't miss something somewhere in the source material that clarifies that. Anyway, buckle up; this ride is just getting started. Until next time, remember… I know lots of things… - iKLOT

My Playlist For This Chapter:

Haley Williams – "Simmer" ( A song that made me think of both Wendy and Courtney. For Wendy, it's how she measures her anger over what happened to Mabel. For Courtney, it's how she's trying to change from the angry and bitter person she was, but not losing her strength at the same time)

Goody Grace ft. blink-182 – "Scumbag"

lovelytheband – "Loneliness For Love"

Cold War Kids – "Dirt In My Eyes" (Reminded me of how Ariel feels towards the spirit after it lied to her and stole her body)

Otherwise – "Lifted" (The lyrics reminded me of how Wendy is sometimes amazed at the fact that she's still among the living after all the crazy things she's done)

Breaking Benjamin – "Tourniquet"

Phantogram – "You Don't Get Me High Anymore"

Halsey – "Experiment On Me" (Reminded me of how the spirit has corrupted the once pure and innocent image of Ariel)

While She Sleeps – "Fakers Plague"

Sleeping With Sirens – "Agree To Disagree"

Through Fire – "Listen To Your Heart"

I'm gonna try something new here. This is Wendy's playlist. Twenty songs that I think she'd listen to. I'm gonna try to post a different character's playlist every few chapters from now on. If you have any ideas or thoughts, feel free to post them in the comment section.

Wendy's Hella Awesome Mix 2020:

Call Me Karizma – "We're Just Kids"

Oliver Tree – "Cash Machine"

All Time Low – "Some Kind of Disaster"

twenty one pilots – "Chlorine"

Imagine Dragons – "Natural"

Muse – "Thought Contagion"

Fall Out Boy – "Last Of The Real Ones"

Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Other Side"

Foo Fighters – "Burning Bridges"

Incubus – "Drive"

Sum 41 – "Fatlip"

Foo Fighters – "All My Life"

Audioslave – "Like A Stone"

Chevelle – "Send The Pain Below"

The Killers – "When You Were Young"

Incubus – "Anna Molly"

Incubus – "Love Hurts"

Anberlin – "Feel Good Drag"

Paramore – "Decode"

Paramore – "Ignorance"

Paramore – "Misery Buisness"

The Official Shooting Star Falls AU Reading Order:

P1). Underage Discoveries On A Reckless Night: A Shooting Star Falls Prequel

1). A Shooting Star Falls

2). Echoes Of A Nearby Future: A Shooting Star Falls Story

3). Scarred Summer: A Shooting Star Falls Story

4). The Dark Days Of Candy Chiu: A Shooting Star Falls Story

5). Forever Memories: A Shooting Star Falls Story

6). Stable Times Or A Wild Ride?: A Shooting Star Falls Story

7). Grenda's Confession: A Shooting Star Falls Story

8). Birthday Weirdness In The Rose City: A Shooting Star Falls Story

9). The Gift Of Forever: A Shooting Star Falls Story

10). Life In Transit: A Shooting Star Falls Story

11). The Moment: A Shooting Star Falls Story

12). Tales Of The Flame & The Ax: A Shooting Star Falls Story