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

Part Twenty-Six: A Ghost Of What Might Have Been

Night had fallen on Gravity Falls and soon the Pines family had all gone to bed. Stan and Ford set up their living quarters in the furnished basement of the home. Having both its own bathroom and small kitchen/bar, it was almost like an apartment for the twin brothers. "Pretty swanky digs..." Stan said as he placed his duffle bag down on the hardwood floor. "Yeah, its nicer than a lot of our accommodations we've had over the last few years" Ford agreed as he put some of his clothes into a dresser. "So, do you think we're in trouble here?" Stan asked as he looked his brother in the eye. "Honestly... I'm afraid so. If its who I think it is, then we better start coming up with a gameplan..." he replied while removing his glasses. "And just who do you think it is? Bill again?" Stan inquired. "It's not Bill Cipher. I'm fairly certain that even if he somehow managed to survive, he's lost any idea of who or what he once was. The ones that I'm thinking of go by the name of The Magic Killers. They're a sibling duo that originated in a universe that's parallel to our own" Ford explained.

For the next half hour or so, Stanford Pines explained the threat that may have already arrived in the town they held so dear. To say that Stanley was worried would be an understatement. "Okay... So these demons are here and they want to consume all the magical power that this world has. There has to be a way to stop them, right Sixer?" the grizzled old man asked. "Well, from my understanding, they have been repelled once" Ford replied as he recalled the time he had spent with The Oracle. She had warned him that this duo was the greatest threat to peace in the multiverse and that defeating them would almost be impossible. "If they could be defeated once, then they can be defeated again..." Stan said with an optimistic voice. "It'll be the toughest thing we've ever done..." Ford remarked as he walked over and shut off a lamp. "I always liked a good challenge..." Stan said as he lay down on his bed and closed his eyes.

Upstairs, Wendy tossed and turned as she thought of what could possibly happen to those she loved. In her dream, she walked the streets of downtown Gravity Falls, which thankfully appeared to be normal. The sun hung high in the sky and a few puffy clouds dotted the light blue sky. "EXCUSE ME! MA'AM!" a female voice called out to Wendy from behind. She turned around to see a white haired girl who looked to be about the same age as her daughters. "A-Are you talking to me?" Wendy asked in an unsure tone. "You're Mabel and Pacifica's mother, right?" the young woman inquired as she stepped closer. The thirty-six year old woman couldn't help but wonder how this girl knew who she was. "Yeah, I am. Who are you?" she replied. "Oh, thank goodness! I need to talk to you! I-It's about that book Pacifica had..." the teen said in a relieved tone. "Let's take a seat" Wendy suggested as she looked towards a bench a little down the sidewalk.

After sitting down, the former police officer couldn't help but feel that she had seen this girl somewhere before. "My name is Ariel Gleeful and I to-" she began before the ginger woman cut her off. "GLEEFUL?! So it is true... Who's your mother?" she inquired. While she didn't think her daughters were lying to her, she found it hard to believe that Gideon had found a woman that could stand his eccentricity; let alone have children with him. "About that... It's sorta complicated. Apparently, I was created in a lab by Dr. Jennifer McGuckett. My biological mother, however, is Mabel Pines..." she revealed. Wendy didn't know how to respond to what the teen girl had just said. "I-I'm sorry... but did you just say that Mabel Pines is your biological mother?" the alabaster skinned woman asked in a bewildered tone. "Yes, I did..." Ariel responded in a matter-of-fact manner. "T-That's impossible! Mabel's been... she's been dead for almost twenty years!" Wendy said with a bit of anger in her voice. At best, she figured that the young woman was merely confused and at worst was flat out lying. "I know it seems that way, but please hear me out. I was just as shocked as you are when I discovered the true nature of my origins" the teen girl pleaded with the mother of two.

The pair continued to sit on the bench. Neither had said a word in about a minute or so and the noise of the town was the only thing to break the silence. "Okay. Explain. And don't leave a single detail out" Wendy said in a flat tone; the lack of emotion slightly off-putting to the teenager. The young woman spent the next few minutes recalling what had transpired in the past few weeks. She described how she had gone from a seemingly perfect life in Eagle Creek to this new one in Gravity Falls, how she had first befriended the Pines twins and what had motivated her to break into their house to steal the spellbook. "I... I CAN'T BELIEVE HE THOUGHT HE COULD JUST STEAL SOME OF MABEL'S DNA TO MAKE A DAUGHTER! That's so fucked up! I mean, what the hell?!" Wendy exploded in white hot rage. Without saying a word, Ariel took the hand of the angry woman and placed it inside of her own. The expression changed on the thirty-six year old's face almost immediately as she realized that Ariel was the true victim in all of this. The white haired girl had never consented to any of this and was just along for the ride. Wendy felt sorry for her.

"Ariel, honey, I'm sorry for that. It's not your fault at all that Gideon is an absolute monster. It's just that I loved Mabel so damn much. It's hard to look at you and not see her now" the auburn haired woman admitted. "Its alright. I could see how that would stir up those kinds of emotions in you..." Ariel replied. "Yeah, no kidding..." Wendy agreed. "So, you broke into our house to steal that book, huh?" the redhead continued. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry for doing that. Whatever this thing is, it plays to your insecurities and makes you the absolute worst version of yourself in order to get what it wants. In my case, it was my body..." the young woman said in a crestfallen tone as she thought of how stupid she had been to trust a strange voice that had shown up in her head out of the blue. "So, it tricked you and kicked you out of your own body? Dude, that's all sorts of messed up. The good news is, though, that we know what it looks like" Wendy said as she tried to raise the spirits of the young woman. "Will I get out of here?" the young woman asked with tears in her eyes. "Of course, you will. I'll make sure of it" Wendy said as the world around her began to fade away and the sound of her alarm rang out.

Dipper rolled over to find his wife in tears while she silenced her alarm. "Wen, babe, what's the matter?" the chestnut haired man asked in a deeply concerned voice. "W-What if I told you that you had a niece out there?" the redhead said as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "As much as I'd like for that to be true, it's impossible. I'm sure it seemed real, but it was just a dream..." Dipper said with a sigh. "NO! It's true!" Wendy said as she sat up in the bed and looked her lover in the eye with a serious expression on her face. It wasn't often that the thirty-three year old man had seen this look on his wife, so he decided to hear her out. "Explain..." Dipper said in a confused tone. "So, you know how DNA and that stuff works, right?" she asked her lover. "I mean, I'd like to think I have a basic understanding of it" he replied. "What if I told you that Gideon Gleeful was able to extract some of Mabel's and use it to create the child they could never have?" she asked while carefully watching his reaction.

He took a moment to process what his wife had just said before speaking. "I've never killed a person before, but there's a first time for everything I suppose..." Dipper remarked in a tone that sent shivers down the spine of Wendy. She had never seen that particular look on his face and hoped that she never would again. "Mason... Please don't go to his house and kill him. It's not worth it. Just calm down and think about all of us for a minute" the auburn haired woman pleaded as she watched her husband arise from the bed and head to the closet. "You're absolutely sure about this? How did you find out?" he asked in that same voice that Wendy swore caused the temperature in the room to plummet. "I-I spoke to her in the mindscape. One of the Magic Killers tricked her into possessing her body or something..." Wendy said as she hoped it would be enough to keep Dipper from committing manslaughter. "Wait... You spoke to Mabel or that... that thing that Gideon made?" he asked his wife. "That thing has a name. It's Ariel... And I spoke to her in my dream. Speaking of which, could you do me a favor and hand me my journal? I need to write this all down while it's still fresh in my mind" the ginger woman said to her lover.

"ARIEL?! Of course he'd choose that name. As if I wasn't already motivated to introduce his face with the back of his fuckin' skull..." Dipper growled as the rage continued to burn inside of him. "Mason, please. I know you're pissed right now, but there's a better way to do this" Wendy begged the father of her children. "Then what do I do, Wen?" the thirty-three year old man said in a frustrated tone. "I dunno, but we'll figure it out" she replied as she continued to try and deescalate the situation. As much as he wanted to march right on down to that white haired son of a bitch and beat the holy hell out of him, Dipper knew that she was right. "Okay. I won't kill him. At least not yet..." he relented before sitting back down on the bed. Passing the blue journal to his wife, he watched as she clicked her pen and began to write down what had transpired in her dream. The brown haired man wanted to ask what she had experienced, but knew that it wasn't the time to do so. Instead, he continued to think about what Wendy had just told him. He had a niece. Sure, she was created in a laboratory and was half Gleeful, but the young woman was still part of his family. He walked over to the window and gazed at the star filled sky on what had become a life altering night in Gravity Falls, Oregon.

Authors Note: It's good to be writing again. I'd like to thank you all for your reviews, DM's and fanart. They mean a lot to me. Anyway, onto the new chapter. What does Ford have planned for the Magic Killers? Why did Ariel turn to Wendy for help? Will Dipper keep his promise to Wendy or will he act upon his feelings? How will the Mystery twins and their friends factor into all of this? Answers to all of these questions and more in the next installment of Tales Of The Flame & The Ax: A Shooting Star Falls Story.

My playlist for this chapter:

Silversun Pickups - "Don't Know Yet"

All Time Low / blackbear - "Monsters"

The Pretty Reckless - "Death By Rock And Roll"

A Day To Remember - "Resentment"

Volbeat - "Lola Montez"

Dead Girls Academy - "This Is War" (If this chapter had a theme song, this would be it)

Pop Evil - "Work"

Red Sun Rising - "Deathwish"

Five Finger Death Punch - "A Little Bit Off" (Makes me think of what Wendy goes through)

Alan Walker x A$AP Rocky - "Live Fast" (Made me think of Wendy & Dipper)

Alan Walker ft. Sabrina Carpenter & Farruko - "On My Way" (It just fits the vibe of Ariel being stuck in the mindspace)

Alan Walker ft. K-391 Emelie Hollow - "Lily" (Another song that reminded me of Ariel in the mindscape. I kinda picture the mindscape having an EDM type of soundtrack to it)