What If… Eda Found Emily?

We start with the young eight year old Emily Tricks lying in her bed, sick with Boiling Pox. She had been like this ever since the day of the Slayground Incident, ever since Emily was caught in the crossfire of Eda's boiling pox curse which she cast out of anger against those that harmed her daughter. Her parents told her that they were going to get her medicine… but that was several days ago. Emily didn't know when her parents would come back…

But that was when she heard the sound of someone breaking in. She raised her head up in a frightened panic. "Mommy? Daddy?" she called out while hearing footsteps. She couldn't see who it was due to her vision being blurred by her sickness, but she was able to make out someone coming into her room. The figure was a red and white blur…

"Oh my…" Eda said in shock upon seeing little Emily in this state. "Oh Titan… I thought no one was home."

"Who… who are you?!" Emily asked in a panic when she heard a voice she didn't recognize. She sat up and backed up into the wall next to her bed.

"Calm down, I'm not here to hurt you," Eda reassured her as she got closer. "Tell me, kid, where are your parents?"

"They… they left a while ago," Emily admitted, still nervous around the stranger.

"How… long is a while ago?" Eda asked, noticing how dusty everything in the house was.

"None of your business," Emily said, not trusting Eda while squinting her eyes to try to get a clearer view of Eda. The Clawthorne woman saw this and the rest of Emily's poor state in general.

"You're sick, aren't you?" Eda asked, sounding concerned. "I can't believe your parents left you here to fend for yourself…"

"They're coming back!" Emily insisted while hugging her knees tight to her. She tried to sound confident, but her confidence wavered as she looked down. "Eventually…"

Eda just sighed. "Kid-"

"They're just getting medicine for me!" Emily shouted defensively. "It ain't my fault I got sick! I was cursed with Boiling Pox by the Owl Lady and now I can't even see shit!"

Eda's eyes widened, now realizing why this girl had boils all over her face… and where she got it from. "Oh my… oh kid, I'm so sorry," she said, while bringing out something from her hair. "Here, take this. It should help you with your vision."

Emily wasn't sure about taking a drink from a stranger, but Eda did sound concerned. Plus, it had been a while since she drank or ate anything. Out of desperation, she grabbed the flask from Eda and drank it down. After gulping the bad tasting elixir, she gave a disgusted look. "Bleh! It tastes bad…"

"Well, it's supposed to, since it's gonna ease up on your curse," Eda told her while Emily's boils shrank a bit. Her vision began to clear. "How are you feeling?"

"My… eyes are getting… better," the young Emily said as she looked up to finally see who her savior was… and she recognized her. "You… the Owl Lady!"

"Yes, but listen, kid-"

"Don't touch me!" Emily screamed while looking furious at Eda. "You're the reason why I'm like this! If it weren't for you, I… I…"

Despite the elixir Eda gave her, Emily was still very, very sick. Before she could say anything else, she passed out back on her bed.

Eda frowned as she walked over and placed her hand over Emily's forehead, feeling her head and how warm it was. She shook her head. "I can't just leave her here alone," she muttered, trying to think what to do. She doesn't know where her parents are or who her parents were or even if they were coming back…

She had to make a decision.

Sometime later, the young Emily started to open her eyes. Her vision was clearing up and the first thing she saw…

"Hey, you're awake!" Hooty shouted while getting in her face.

"AAAH!" Emily exclaimed as she sat up on the couch and backed away in a panic.

"WAAAAH!" Hooty screamed.

"Hooty, you're scaring her!" shouted the little Luz who got in between them, giving Emily a moment to collect herself

After Emily calmed down, she looked around and saw that she was in a place that she didn't recognize. She was on a couch with a blanket and pillow and there was a towel over her head. Hearing little Luz clear her throat, Emily looked down and saw her offering a glass of water.

"Hey," Little Luz said. "I, um, thought you'd be thirsty."

Emily took the glass of water and downed it without a second thought before getting a better look at Luz and realizing she had seen her before. "You…"

That was when Eda strode in. "Oh good, you're awake," she said, sounding and looking relieved. Emily just glared at the older woman in anger.

"Did you… did you take me out of my home?!" Emily snarled at her. "You kidnapped me from my home!"

"Hey, look, I couldn't just leave you home alone while you were sick, kid," Eda told her.

"I want to go home!" Emily shouted at her.

"You will, I promise," Eda said. "But right now, you need to rest. I promise you that I will get in contact with your parents. Can you tell me their names?" she asked while Emily just looked away. "Look, I'm trying to help you, kid."

"I don't need your help," Emily told her while bringing her knees to her chest.

Eda sighed, realizing that this girl wouldn't cooperate with her and yet… she couldn't really blame her. "Okay. Just… let me know if you change your mind then." She turned to Luz. "Can you keep an eye on her for me, hon?"

"Okay, mommy," Luz responded as Eda walked out of the living room.

After that, there was a period of awkward silence. Emily and Luz just looked at each other, neither of them saying a word. During this awkwardness, Emily remembered seeing Luz being attacked at the Slayground and she decided to finally break the silence. "Say… are you… okay?" she asked her.

"Oh, I'm fine, thank you," Luz responded. "Why do you ask?"

"Well… the truth is, I saw you before… at the slayground," Emily said, making Luz's eyes widen. "I was in the marketplace running an errand for my parents when it happened. I was in the crowd there and I saw those older kids beating you. I was going to step in and try to help you… but then the Owl Lady showed up." She pointed to her face. "And you know the rest."

Luz looked down. "Yeah, I… snuck off to play at the slayground. My mom was just protecting me but… I didn't realize how many innocent people got hurt." She looked up at Emily. "I'm very sorry that you got cursed. But you should know that my mom didn't mean to hurt you, just the people that were attacking me."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Emily told her in a bitter tone while Luz looked down. Emily noticed this. "But… I'm glad that you're alright, though."

Luz looked up and smiled at her. "Thanks,"

Emily nodded. "So… what is a human doing here living with the Owl Lady?" she asked while looking around the messy living room. "I assume this is the infamous Owl House…"

"Oh, well, mom adopted me when I was just a baby after she found me alone inside a crashed metal wagon in the Human Realm," Luz explained. "Since then, she's been taking care of me. And there's also King, my brother. He's not human, just a little demon that also lives with us. You'll probably get to meet him later."

"What's your name again?" Emily asked while looking at Luz.

"I'm Luz," Luz introduced. "Luz Clawthorne."

"Well Luz, my name is… Emily," Emily introduced herself. "Emily Tricks."

Time… Space… Reality…

It's more than just a linear path. It's like a prism… of endless possibilities.

A single choice one makes can branch out into infinite realities… creating alternate worlds from the ones we know.

Greetings. I am the Guardian, appearing on your computer screen, to show you one of the new realities I have watched and seen branching the story you have followed.

Follow me… and ponder the question… What If…?

Emily Tricks and Luz Clawthorne, sworn enemies during the Glandus War.

In the original timeline, it was Terra Snapdragon that found Emily and had her indoctrinated into being the Tarot Guild. All of that abuse, pain, and hardship resulted in Emily becoming a deadly illusionist and Luz's arch-nemesis. However, over time, she has started to turn a new leaf thanks to the friendship and influences of Lindsay Shystream, Cross Drakescale, and Zee Drakescale.

But what if Emily wasn't found by Terra? What if… Eda found Emily first?

I am the Guardian, and as you read this, I'm about to show you in this universe, where what would have been like if Emily was raised… as a Clawthorne.

Ten years later, we continue our story in a bedroom that is clean, neat, and orderly, especially compared to the rest of the Owl House. Framed photos are up on display, showing pictures of Emily and ones with her, Luz, and King. There is even a family photo of her with Eda, Luz, King, and Hooty, all wearing flashy sweaters. On the shelves and dresser are a collection of knick-knacks that she collected herself or were given to her by either her siblings, Eda, or Hooty. On a black bed, the alarm screamed before a tail turned it off. The green-skinned girl woke up from her slumber with a yawn.

Her name was Emily T. Clawthorne. She had been living in the Owl House ever since she had been brought here ten years ago. After learning what became of her parents, Emily had nobody who could take care of her. Fortunately, the Clawthornes let her stay in the Owl House, out of guilt on Eda's part and out of sympathy on Luz's part. Though starting out as just an extended house guest, Emily became an adopted member of the Clawthorne family.

After a shower and dressing up, Emily was now sporting her Hexside uniform with blue illusionist sleeves and leggings. Her tail flickered behind her. "Another day, another-" She heard a knock on the door. "Come in!"

"Good morning, Eminems!" Eda spoke up happily.

"I told you not to call me that, Eda," Emily groaned.

"Right, right, you've outgrown the nickname thing," Eda said. "Do you know what today is?"

"School day?" Emily asked with a yawn.

"WEH!"

The two heard King's shout from Luz's bedroom and Emily sighed. "King fell into Luz's traps again…"

"Of course he did," Eda said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, today there's a giant dead slug worm out at the beach, which means there's potential treasures to sell at the market."

"If you're asking me to skip school to go with you, I don't think so," Emily told her while getting her strap bag. "And I'm going to make sure Luz doesn't go with you either. We have a busy school day today."

Eda sighed. "Well, can't blame an old girl trying," she said before Luz ran into the room.

"Hey mom, hey sis!" Luz shouted while King walked behind her. "Hey Emily, why are you dressed for-?'

"Luz! Why aren't you in… uniform yet?" Emily asked while putting a finger on her lip to shush Luz.

"Oh! Um… I guess I was busy laughing at King for setting off my trap," Luz said.

"I almost passed out with the blood going to my head!" King told them before he walked away.

"Well Luz, you better get ready for school then," Eda told her. "And remember, try to focus on your studies this time. Amity has already told me how you need to practice on your penmanship."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Luz said as she went to change. "Um, Emily, why don't you wait for me when I get ready?"

"Of course, Luz," Emily responded, the two sounding very secretive.

Later, in the streets of Bonesborough, Luz and Emily were walking together.

"Why couldn't we just tell mom about this again?" Luz asked her. "I mean, we could have at least told her that school was canceled today…"

"Then she would try to get us to spend the day with her and we would miss out," Eda reminded her while reading a book. "And Eda would never let us go if she knew. You know how she feels about the coven system. This could be a great opportunity for the both of us, if Eda knew what we were up to…"

The two sisters stopped to look up at the building before them.

The Covention center, which was holding the annual coven convention today, hence why school was canceled.

Looking up at the building, Luz shrugged. "Honestly, I just came here to meet up with my friends."

"You're not thinking of joining a coven?" Emily asked her.

"Why would I?" Luz asked her. "Like mom, I'd rather stick it to the man than join their unjust system," Luz said, much to Emily's annoyance.

"Luz, let me tell you something that I hope gets into your head," Emily told her. "Eda is not someone you should idolize or model yourself after."

"What? How can you say that?!" Luz asked her. "She's not a bad witch."

"I know she's not, but Eda's lifestyle is not an ideal one that you should try to emulate," Emily told her. "She's constantly on the run from the law, has very few friends, and she struggles to provide for the three of us. As much as I appreciate what she's done for us, I don't want to become like her."

"Sis…" Luz said while Emily patted her shoulder.

"One of us has to be the responsible one and think about the future, Luz," Emily told her while looking at her foster sister. "Eda's made her choice, but her life doesn't have to be our life. At least think about it, alright?"

Luz looked conflicted about this as the two girls entered the building. They looked around, seeing many stands for covens as well as the banners of the nine main covens hanging from the ceiling.

As the two sisters looked around, Emily pointed at one stand. "Look, they have an Artist Coven you could join."

Meg was shown at the stand displaying some art. "Come join the Artist Coven, or whatever," she said dryly.

Luz looked a bit tempted. "I don't know, most of my artwork is anti-establishment," she said while looking at another stand. "What's that lame stand?"

"Oh, must be a Witch Scout recruitment table," Emily said, seeing a table of Witch Scout displays being hosted by Danny Dilburn.

"Come one, come all, and learn the skills to be a great witch if you join the Witch Scouts Association!" Danny declared as Luz looked up at the sign.

"Don't know if I want to join something called the Snitch Scouts," Luz commented.

"Wait, what?!" Danny asked as he looked up, seeing that the sign had changed. He heard laughter and spotted his sister, Fan, nearby. "Fanny!"

"You know I can't resist, bro!" Fan laughed while Danny was ticked off by his sister's antics.

Luz just snickered at this while looking at other tables. "Cooking Coven, Basket-Weaving Coven, Book Coven, most of these sound like joining different clubs…"

"Luz!" two familiar voices shouted. Luz turned and saw Willow and Gus walking over to her and Emily.

"Will'O Wisp, G-Man!" Luz waved to them. "How's my favorite witches doing?"

"We're just exploring around, but we're surprised to see you here," Willow said.

"Yeah, we thought you'd take advantage of the no-school day with your usual mischief," Gus pointed out.

"I wish, but big sis here dragged me out to come here," Luz said while pointing to Emily.

"Willow, Augustus," Emily greeted them politely. "Nice to see you two."

"Nice to see you too, Emily," Gus responded, acknowledging his trackmate.

"Still keeping Luz out of trouble for us?" Willow asked her.

"I just wish to show Luz that there are other options besides a rebellious lifestyle," Emily responded while Luz made faces behind Emily. "And don't think that I don't know you're making faces behind my back, Luz."

Luz just stuck her tongue out at her before turning to her friends. "So, who else is at this event?" she asked them.

"Well, we did spot some of our classmates, like the Detention Trackers and the Grudgeby team," Willow listed off. "Oh, and Amity and her siblings are also there."

"Oh, Amity's here." Luz replied quietly, which Emily noticed.

"I thought you'd be happy about that, Luz," Emily said, making Luz look over at her.

"I… it's not like I'm not, just…" Luz said while looking away. "I guess we can stop by and see them." She looked back to her friends. "Who else is here?"

"Well, there are some students from other schools with their own coven tables," Willow said. "Like Merlin Meadows or Hogwash…"

"Ugh, don't remind me of Hogwash," Luz grimaced.

"Glandus is also here," Gus said, looking wary. "But be warned, because you-know-who' is here…"

"Yeah, along with her posse," Willow added, Emily and Luz looking surprised to hear this.

"Whoa, you think they're gonna cause trouble?" Luz asked, curious.

"I don't think they will," Emily replied, not sounding or looking worried about them. "They wouldn't dare to cause trouble here, not with all the scouts present. Although, I am surprised that 'you-know-who' was bold enough to even show up here in the first place," she said with a curious look. "As if she's trying to prove something…"

After Willow and Gus left them, Luz and Emily continued to look around at the stands of different covens.

"Come join the griffin-watching coven, you'll just see… griffins, mostly," spoke one elder.

At a stand for the 'science coven', Tiny Nose was shown grabbing a potion and drinking it. Sarah spotted her and tried to stop her. "No, wait, don't drink that!" she shouted, but it was too late as Tiny Nose started to turn green and grow bigger.

"Raawww!" Big Tinella Nosa shouted as she went on a rampage, causing the St. Epiderm potion student to look around before sneaking off from the scene. "Big Nose SMASH!"

Luz then spotted Cat and Mattholomule riding on broomsticks, only for them to lose control. "YAAAH!" they screamed before they crashed into a stand.

"Geez, are they still trying to replace witch staffs?" Luz asked.

"With the Palistrom shortage, it's not surprising to say the least," Emily said as they passed by a SCORN stand run by Teri Oscorne, which she noticed. "Other than covens, companies are also here for self promotion or job employment." She then spotted the Blight Industries table, which Amity was at along with Edric and Emira. "Oh look, Amity's there. You should go talk to her."

Luz stopped in her tracks. "Um… no, no, it's… it's fine, really," Luz said nervously, but Emily went to get their attention. "Emily, no!"

"Amity, it's us!" Emily shouted, drawing Amity's attention along with her siblings.

"Emily? Luz?" Amity asked, seeing the two Clawthorne sisters.

"Hey, you guys," Emira waved to them as they came over.

"Hello Amity, Ed, and Em," Emily greeted them.

"And hello to you too… Em," Emira said as she patted Emily's back. "I see you and Luz have made it to the covention. Thought you couldn't come?"

"Yeah, doesn't your mom, like, hate the covens?" Edric asked them.

"Yeah, Luz, it's a surprise to see you here," Amity admitted. "I thought you wouldn't go to a… place like this."

"Pst, yeah, I wouldn't," Luz responded, trying to sound cool instead of awkward… which failed. "I'm just here for… the free swag."

"Ooh, what did you get?" Edric asked her.

"Oh nothing of interest," Luz waved it off. "Besides, this… place is already lame."

"Aw, I think the little troublemaker is nervous about joining a coven," Emira teased.

"I am not!" Luz barked at her.

"Luz, be nice," Emily told her while Luz just grumbled. "Anyway, I should leave her to you three now."

"Wait, you're not sticking around?" Luz asked her.

"Just for a while," Emily told her as she slowly vanished. "Bye, Luz," she said before she faded away, revealing herself to be an illusion.

"What the-?!" Luz stepped back when she saw her sister disappear like that. "Titan's crack, I hate it when she does this!" she said in annoyance.

Amity saw Luz's annoyance and sighed. "I can relate…"

Now alone, Emily looked around at the coven stands. She didn't look worried about leaving Luz with the Blights, since she knew Amity could handle and keep an eye on Luz. She and Amity had been trying to keep Luz out of trouble ever since she started attending Hexside. Emily had to stop her from picking unnecessary fights with anyone, including that Hieron girl. Thank Titan she managed to prevent that…

As Emily walked around, she overheard an argument happening nearby. Turning around, she spotted Dusty Bringems arguing with Kevin Shrubs.

"You? The top of Beast-Keeping in your school?" Kevin scoffed. "Hexside must be desperate to have you, Rusty."

"It's Dusty, Kevin!" Dusty responded in anger. "And I'm top because of my skills as a Beast Keeper!"

"Ha! I'm more of an expert on all Beasts in the Beast-Keeping catalog," Kevin proclaimed. "I can be Beast Head with my eyes closed."

"Oh yeah? Well I can be a bigger Beast Head than you!" Dusty argued.

"Oh yeah?" Dusty asked while pushing Kevin around.

"Yeah!" Kevin replied as he pushed Dusty back.

The two started pushing at each other while everyone watched. They kept fighting until they ended up stepping on a tail…

"YEOWCH!" cried out a certain werecat. She was wearing a black long jacket only on her shoulders and a Glandus uniform with a golden collar and ripped sleeves.

"Who the fuck stepped on my tail?!" Nina Fangs shouted. With her are her gang, which included Tito, Cain, Stella, Goregon, Weaselton, Ruth, Kadabe, Bangles… and Batters, who was wearing Illusion sleeves. Nina narrowed her gaze on Dusty and Kevin. "You two…"

"Oh my Titan…" Kevin said as he backed away, looking pale.

"Nina Fangs," Dusty gulped, looks just as pale as Kevin.

Nina looked at her tail, then glared at the Beast-Keeping rivals. "You two stepped on my tail…"

"We-we're sorry, Nina!" Kevin exclaimed in a panic. "It was mostly Dusty!"

"It's more Kevin's fault, but really we're sorry!" Dusty apologized.

Nina glared at them for a moment… before her face relaxed and she gave them a smile. "Boys, boys, relax, it's just an accident," she calmly told them, giving them friendly shoulder pats. "Look, I can let this slide. Besides, everyone's tails get stepped on once in a while, it's just one of life's accidents."

Dusty and Kevin looked at Nina, feeling at ease. "Um… really?" Kevin asked.

"So we can go?" Dusty asked her.

Nina chuckled. "Oh I never said that." She snapped her fingers. "Hatch, Klanc"

Both boys were suddenly grabbed by two muscular female witch healers, who lifted them off the ground. "Gah!" they screamed. One healer, Hatch, had brown hair combed down with green eyes and the other, Klank, had a purple bobcut and green skin.

"Aren't they beautiful? They take good care of my needs," Nina told them while walking up to Dusty and Kevin, tapping her claws under their chins. "Now listen, consider this a warning, since I could do you both worse for stepping on my tail. But I'm being generous," she said while drawing her claws on their cheeks. "Which is why I'm going to leave you boys with a scratch as a warning to watch yourselves next time…"

Kevin and Dusty tried to escape but the two Healers had them restrained. Emily, who was watching this, looked around and saw a scout nearby. She saw the scout looking at the scene… only to look away.

"They ain't paying me to do this job," the scout, Craig, muttered.

Emily just narrowed her eyes at the scout before marching over to put a stop to this. "Stop this right now, Nina."

Nina paused and turned to look at the illusionist before her. She immediately recognized her. "Oh… Emily."

"Hi, Emily…" Stella meekly waved at her.

"Put them down now, Nina," Emily told her, her eyes narrowing at the werecat. "They didn't mean to harm you in any way. Don't you think this is a bit much?"

Nina scoffed. "Like I'm gonna be told off by a clown who only knows a few party tricks," she mocked her. "I don't understand why you're in the Illusions track, Tricks. You could do so much better than using one of the weakest types of magic out here."

"Hey, um, being an Illusionist isn't that bad," Batters spoke up. "In fact-"

"Shut up, Batters," Nina told him, causing the boy to back down. "You see? The only career you'll have out of the Illusions Coven is either a jester or, I guess, a special effects artist working under crunch hours. But it's not like you'll make it in the Emperor's Coven with that magic, would you?"

Emily didn't back down. "Is that all you have to say?" she asked Nina. "I don't care if you don't like that I'm an Illusionists, that's the track I chose and I will not be talked down to by someone who licks herself."

Nina's eye twitched as Tito and the gang looked shocked. "Oh no she didn't…" Tito exclaimed.

"She's done it! She's really done it!" Weaselton shouted as he shook Goregon's arm.

Ruth signed 'It's her funeral.'

Nina gave a snarl while glaring at the green witch. "You think you're clever, puke-face? You think you can try to trick me with your illusions? I have your scent. I can smell you."

"Smell me? That's creepy," Emily countered calmly.

Nina was up and close in Emily's face now, Stella looking scared for Emily while Nina gave a grin. "You have moxie, I'll give you that," she commented, her ears wiggling.

Hatch and Klanc let go of Dusty and Kevin, the two boys looking up to Nina in fear. "You… you're letting us go?" Dusty asked her.

"I grew bored of you two," she said as she turned around, her tail raising up and nuzzling Emily's chin. "Besides, I found a more interesting toy."

Emily kept her gaze narrowed on Nina, refusing to be intimidated by her. "If you're so sure about yourself, Nina, then perhaps you can prove that you're more than just talk…"

Nina turned to Emily. "What are you suggesting?"

"Why don't you challenge me to a witch's duel?" Emily suggested, surprising Nina. "Unless you're too scared of losing to an illusionist in front of your followers…"

"Nina, scared?" Goregon asked in confusion.

"That's a sentence I've never heard before," Cain admitted.

"What are you guys talking about?" Tito asked them in disbelief. "Nina ain't afraid of no Illusionist."

"Yeah, you're right, lieutenant," Nina proclaimed, crossing her arms. "Alright Emily, I'll take up your challenge. Can't promise you that you won't end up with scratches and bruises,"

"I'll see you at the auditorium later," Emily responded confidently.

After that, Nina and her goons decided to walk away. "See ya then, Emily…"

Stella glanced back at Emily, looking concerned for her and letting out a sad sigh before she went to follow Nina and the gang.

Dusty and Kevin watched them leave before they turned to Emily. "T-Thanks for the save, Emily," Dusty said.

"Yeah," Kevin responded gratefully.

"It's no problem," Emily said dismissively before she heard from someone else.

"Wow, that's either the bravest thing I've seen…" a female voice said.

"Or the stupidest," a male voice added.

Recognizing those voices, Emily turned around and saw two teen witches. She smiled at them. "Hello Zee, hello Cross," she greeted them warmly.

"Hi, Emily" Zee waved to her while hanging her arm around her brother. "Me and Cross were just hanging around the area when we noticed you challenging that Fangs girl."

"Yeah, what were you thinking?" Cross asked her. "I thought your sister would pull something like this, but not you."

"Don't worry, I have something planned for when I go up against Nina, since I figured that I would have to put that bully in her place one of these days," Emily reassured them. "But for now, let's not worry about Nina. How have you guys been doing?"

"Oh, we've been doing great," Zee responded as the three walked together. "Just thought of showing up here, since some of our friends came down here. What about you, cuz?"

"I came here with Luz," Emily explained. "So we can look at our opportunities and options for our futures."

"Really? Isn't she rebellious and completely against the coven system?" Zee asked her.

"Yeah, it's not her style," Cross muttered.

"Which is why I am trying to change her mind and make sure that she doesn't grow up exactly like her mother," Emily said. "As much as I appreciate what she's done for me, even if it was out of obligation, Eda's not the most ideal role model for Luz."

"Least it'll be easier to find a job around here for her," Zee replied. "Like, I know that she's human and uses those glyphs of hers, but at least she won't be needing those brands. I am not looking forward to getting one of those." She then remembered something. "By the way, how is your mom?"

"Eda… doesn't know that we're here," Emily admitted.

"Ooh, sneaking behind your mom's back?" Zee commented with a smirk.

"It's the only way I would be able to get Luz here," Emily admitted before the three stopped and saw people herding for the auditorium where they were holding the Emperor's Coven's panel. Emily looked interested, which Zee noticed.

"Thinking of going in there?" Zee asked her.

"Yeah, I heard they were having a special guest speaker," Emily said while Cross looked toward the auditorium, then around.

"You two can go ahead," Cross told them as he began to walk away. "I promised Teri to help him out with something."

"Alright, we won't wait for you when it's over," Zee told him as Cross left. She and Emily walked in together. "I bet he's just using Teri as an excuse to meet his secret girlfriend…"

"Secret girlfriend?" Emily asked her.

"Yeah," Zee responded. "He's always sneaking off somewhere. I think he could be hiding a girlfriend and he's too shy about it."

"I wouldn't blame him, since you would tease him about it," Emily told her as Zee snickered.

"Yeah, I would," Zee admitted shamelessly as they entered inside.

Once they got into the auditorium, they spotted Luz sitting with the Blight siblings. Luz noticed them and walked over to Emily.

"Emily, there you are," Luz said, confronting her sister. She turned to Zee. "Hey Zee."

"Sup, cuz," Zee waved to her.

"Em, I just heard from some Merlin kids that you challenged Nina Fangs," Luz said, looking at her sister in concern. "Is this alright? Challenging Glandus's most powerful Queen like that?"

"Don't worry, Luz," Emily reassured her, patting Luz's shoulder. "I can take care of myself."

Once they got to their seats, Principal Bump showed up on the stage below as the audience applauded. "Hello, Bonesborough!" he announced as everyone clapped "Now then, students have asked me all the time, 'Principal Bump, what's the height of magical achievement?'"

"Is it this?" Matt asked as he shot magic at his head, causing it to expand, making him fall over onto an unfortunate student.

"Wow… I failed you as a principal," Bump said as he grabbed the mic. "As I was saying, it's all about being selected to join the best of the best. And there is none better than the jewel of the coven system."

Appearing behind him were two coven scouts and the Golden Guard, whose presence earned a lot of cheers and awes from the crowd.

"Great, the golden doofus is here," Luz muttered as Emily shushed her.

"Luz," Emily scolded her as they continued to listen to Bump.

"Luz!" Willow shouted and Luz turned to see Gus and Willow pointing at Gus's forehead that was signed by the Golden Guard.

"Feast your eyes on this elite force, including the Golden Guard who has generously shown up today," Bump said. "Each member of the Emperor's Coven is handpicked to usher in a new age of controlled magic."

"When does that 'elite force' get here?" Luz joked to Zee, who snickered back.

The Golden Guard used his staff to perform magic, including various illusions of animals. The scouts did the same, showing off their own magic like balls of fire and mini tornadoes.

"Members of the Emperor's Coven have access to all, yes, all forms of magic," Bump said. "But… only the best can join these ranks. Some day that could be one of you!" He pointed to Amity, whose face brightened as she let out a squeal.

Luz blushed at Amity squealing like that, which Emily took notice of. "She's cute, isn't she?" she asked with a smirk.

"N-no," Luz denies while leaning in her seat. "When is this going to end?"

"And now, I'm pleased to introduce the esteemed leader of the coven and this year's mystery guest," Bump declared. "Graduated from Hexside herself, you know her, you love her! Head of the Emperor's Coven… Lilith!"

Luz's eyes widened as the crowd gasped, seeing a bright flash of light from the ceiling turn into a blue raven sitting on a branch. The raven flew off from the branch and flew around the stage, which impressed the students, including Emily who was in awe. The raven then disappeared after it landed, showing Lilith appearing on stage with a mask that she took off moments later.

"She's here…?" Luz asked nervously.

"So Aunt Lilith the mystery guest," Emily said, looking curious.

"Thank you all for coming here," Lilith said as she held up the mic while Bump excused himself. "It wasn't easy for me to rise to the top. I also started from humble beginnings."

"Like me?" Matt asked him, his head still big.

"Now I have the highest honor of enforcing the Emperor's will," Lilith declared. "So be more! The Emperor's Coven awaits you!"

The crowd cheered for Lilith while Luz got up from her seat, heading for the exit. Emily noticed her sister leaving, prompting a concerned look on her face.

Meanwhile, at the market, Eda along with King were at their Human Treasures stand. Not only were there no customers in sight, but there also weren't any rival businesses set up.

"Wow, business is much slower than usual," King said while looking around.

"Yeah, strange, not even a guard in sight," Eda said while giving a grim look. "This is a bad omen. There must be something horrible today… inflation, the market crash, tax-increases…"

King was suddenly hit in the skullcap face by a flyer blown by the wind. He grabbed it and took a look at it. "Or maybe everyone's at that annual covention."

"Covention?" Eda asked, grabbing the flyer and reading it. "Wait… don't they cancel school for these-?" It was then that Eda's eyes widened as she put two and two together. "Oh… oh no…"

Back at the covention, Emily followed Luz out of the auditorium. "Luz? Luz what's wrong?" she asked her, confronting her sister. "You ran off in a hurry."

"Oh, well it's… about Aunt Lilith," Luz told her, rubbing her own arm out of nervousness.

"What about her?" Emily asked in concern.

"I… just can't let her see me, alright?" Luz told her. "I'm not so sure how she'll react to us, especially me."

"Luz, you shouldn't be afraid of meeting your aunt," Emily reassured her. "Besides, maybe she'll be glad to finally meet her niece."

"Or try to take me away from mom," Luz muttered.

Emily sighed. "Luz, maybe meeting Lilith could help us. Think about it. We have a family member who is the Head of the Emperor's Coven. We could use our relationship with her and her connections to our advantage."

"Mom wouldn't like that, Emily," Luz told her. "You know how she feels about all of this…"

"Don't think about Eda. Think about the future, Luz," Emily told her. "I'll be damned if I let you follow her path."

"I'm fine the way I am with my own path, Em," Luz argued. "Besides, what coven would want me? I don't have a bile sac or natural magic. It ain't like they can brand me."

Emily sighed. "Luz, honestly, you may have a better chance to join other covens than I do," she said. "After all, you have other great talents that don't require magic. Like your art and ability to play the guitar."

"Why is getting connections so important to you?" Luz asked her.

"Because we need the advantage we can get, Luz," Emily told her. "Like you, I'm also at a disadvantage. I'm only good at illusions, but the rest of my magic sucks ass. So we both have to adapt to compensate for our weaknesses."

Luz looked down, thinking about what her sister said. However, they got interrupted when they heard someone nearby.

"Titan's crack," Nina Fangs cursed while looking at her scroll as she was walking with her gang. "No wonder I don't see Donna around here, she went on a family beach trip! We should've gone to the beach!"

"But it was your idea to come here," Weaselton pointed out.

"Shut up, Weasel," Nina muttered while noticing Emily. "Ah, Tricks, you didn't run after all. So are you ready for our duel?"

Luz looked up to Emily, who gave Nina a nod. "Of course, I am ready."

Nina smirked. "Then you better hope you have a healer ready…"

Soon, everyone gathered at the stadium, where they watched Emily and Nina face each other while Danny stood in the middle of the arena as a referee.

"Go get her, Nina!" Tito cheered for her friend along with the other Glandus tops.

"Bite her tail, Em!" Luz shouted while keeping her hoodie over her head to avoid being noticed by Lilith, who was sitting on the balcony with the Golden Guard and some scouts.

"Do you think that she'll be alright?" Willow asked Luz, sitting beside her along with Gus.

"Emily said she has something up her sleeve," Luz said while looking at her sister with a mixture of interest and concern.

"Alright, listen up!" Danny shouted to the two girls, holding colored flags that represented their tracks. "This is a duel between two of the top students from their respective schools. Top Illusionist to my left, one who has worked her way up to become one of Hexside's top, she is… Emily Tricks!"

A few claps and cheers from Hexside's side were heard as Emily faced her opponent.

"And her opponent, coming from the Torsa Villa before moving up the ranks to become the Queen of Glandus, the top of the food chain and a werecat who's unafraid to show what she's made of, Glandus High's… Nina Fangs!"

Nina stepped forward while removing her jacket and then her shirt showing her black short top as her Healers Hatch and Klanc carried them out. She looked at Emily with a smirk.

"Alright, I expect this witch duel to be a clean and fair fight. So no eye poking, no hitting below the belt, and no curses. Got it?" Danny asked the two.

"Of course," Emily agreed.

"I won't need much magic to take her down," Nina said while cracking her neck.

Once Danny stepped out of the way, he rang the bell. It screams, signaling for the duel to start.

Nina went first as she delivered a punch to Emily, who blocked the punch. Nina delivers two more punches for Emily to dodge and block. Emily then saw Nina deliver a swinging kick, hitting her in the side. Emily saw that the werecat was focusing on hand-to-hand combat, so she threw a punch of her own. Nina dodged it before she hit Emily in the side, making her kneel down.

Emily swung her leg to swipe at Nina's feet, who jumped up and delivered two kicks to Emily's face. Emily rolled over and drew a blue spell circle to create five duplicates of herself. She stood besides her duplicates as they all faced Nina. The werecat just looked at the Emily directly in front of her, running over to punch at her, only for her to disappear.

"So that's how you want to play?" Nina asked with a smirk as she swung her foot-paw around to disperse another illusion. The Emily illusions circled around Nina, who eyed each of them. She smelled the air, smiled, and then turned her left arm into a gorilla arm, punching the real Emily across the floor.

As she managed to get up, Emily noticed a shadow looming over her. Nina was quickly behind her, her tail wrapping around Emily and hanging her upside down, her face facing hers.

"Is that all you got, Tricks?" Nina smirked to her before her tail threw Emily up in the air. Nina jumped up, her legs changed into that of a kangaroo's. Once the werecat grabbed Emily, she swung her down and slammed her to the floor.

"Emily!" Luz shouted with a worried look.

"Rough her up, Nina!" Tito and the Glandus tops cheered.

Emily was about to get up, but Nina's foot stomped her face to the ground. The werecat was sitting on her back, giving a relaxed look.

"You know, this is just sad, Emily," Nina said while Emily tried to get up, but Nina wasn't letting her. "But don't worry, I'm not planning on finishing you off yet. I'd like to play with you first before I do so…"

Emily snarled at Nina. "You are enjoying this too much, I'm starting to think you have a thing for me…"

Nina scoffed. "Please, you wish," she said as she flipped off Emily.

When Emily got up, Nina picked her up and started spinning her around before throwing her. But her tail grabbed her by the ankle of her boot, pulling her back in as Nina swung Emily to the ground back and forth. She then swung Emily down to slide to the ground.

The crowd booed at Nina while those from Glandus cheered for her. Nina just remained focused on Emily, who managed to get up with a few sores and bruises. Emily was about to make a counter-strike, but Nina dashed in front of her.

"What'cha gonna do?" Nina asked with a smirk before leaving a cut on Emily's cheek.

"Gah!" Emily winced, before feeling another cut to her left arm from a dash. "Gah!"

Everyone winced as they saw Nina dashing around Emily, giving her some cuts around with her claws. Stella winced at this as well, while Luz watched in worry. Emily remained on her feet, even while the orange blur kept swiping at her, leaving some cuts on her knee, her upper arm, thigh, and other side of her face.

Emily was covered in scratches and her uniform was torn before she then felt a scratch on her back. "Kyah!" she shouted as she fell forward. Nina appeared in front of her and Emily threw a fist at the werecat, who dodged the fist before grabbing it. She then swung Emily to hang her around her shoulders, pulling her from each side. "RAAH!" she cried.

"Had enough, Tricks?" Nina asked her with a smirk. "I can stop if you say 'I give.'"

Emily glared at Nina. "Never…"

Nina sighed. "Guess I'll just have to get more rough," Nina said before dropping Emily down and kicking her towards the wall, shocking the crowd.

"Emily!" Luz shouted as she along with her friends grew worried for her.

Nina chuckled as she marched towards Emily. "Now, time to finish this!" she declared before she stepped onto something that caused a flash. "What the-?"

BOOOM!

Nina flew away as she was blown back from something explosive. "YAAAAH!" she cried out as she landed on her paws, looking down and seeing a piece of paper flying over. A paper that contained a fire and light combo glyph…

This shocked the audience while Emily stepped out from the crater of the wall. She brushed herself off. "Looks like you've set off one of my own glyph combos."

"Glyph combos?" Nina asked. "I don't know what that is, but that's not going to stop me from finishing you off!" She dashed towards Emily again and swiped at her… only for her claws to go through the illusion. "Huh?"

The real Emily appeared behind Nina, tapping on another glyph that caused large vines to grab Nina by the ankle, launching her back. "YAAAH!" she shouted as she crashed into a wall.

After she hit that wall, she stepped out and tried to attack Emily again, but Emily just set off more glyphs, causing Nina to be trapped in three mini-tornadoes. "YAAAH!" she shouted as she spun around. Emily tossed several glyphs into the tornadoes and as Nina swiped at the air, she accidentally set off the glyphs, sending bolts of electricity into her. "YAAAAAAH!"

The Glandus tops looked shocked at this. "What… what's happening?!" Batters asked.

"I don't know," Tito said in shock. "But we can't doubt Nina, this is probably another illusion trick."

Nina managed to get out of the tornado and she charged at Emily again, but Emily casually put her foot on a glyph that she drew with her foot, causing a large wooden pillar to come out of the ground, hitting Nina in the face and launching her back. Nina shook off the hit and went on all fours and attempted to charge at Emily, who used an ice glyph to block her path.

Emily then used an invisibility spell on a bunch of glyph cards before scattering them all around her. She calmly stood there while Emily tried to get her, running into the minefield of glyph combos. Nina was so irate that she wasn't thinking clearly. Instead she got shocked, whipped, and bamboozled by the glyph combos while Emily just stood there and watched Nina flying around like a ragdoll. Eventually, Nina straggled on the ground. She carried herself in an attempt to get at Emily… only to set off another trap.

"Aw fuc-" She was instantly shocked, electrocuted by the trap as she screamed in pain. Eventually, Nina fell down on the floor in defeat while Emily walked towards her.

Everyone was shocked, but Luz shouted from the crowd. "Way to go, sis!"

Emily's strategy had worked perfectly. She knew that Nina would take her time, wanting to play with her prey and make Emily hurt. She knew that Nina would get cocky and overconfident once she thought she had won and that she wouldn't be able to think clearly after Emily actually started to challenge her.

And now Nina groaned as she looked up to Emily. She couldn't move due to being worn out, but then Emily kicked in the face with her boot.

"What's this about an illusionist being a clown?" Emily asked with a smirk. "Cause I see a circus animal just now."

Nina snarled. "Fuck you," she said before she felt another kick from Emily's boot tot he face. "Fuck! You… you cheated with these traps!"

"I only used every advantage that I had," Emily said, grabbing Nina by the collar. "Besides, me using those glyphs is no different than you using your drugs," she declared before slamming her fist to Nina's face. And then she kept punching her.

Everyone watched as Emily gave Nina a beat down. Punching her and punching her showing no signs of stopping. Danny tried to interfere. "Hey, stop right now! You've won!"

"Not until she's knocked out!" Emily shouted as she kept beating Nina. Blood spilled on Emily, but the Tricks girl didn't care. She was really getting into beating Nina… perhaps too much. Everyone was too shocked to do anything as Emily kept punching Nina over and over and over… until she felt a hand grab hers.

"That's enough!" someone shouted as Emily turned around… and saw Eda.

Luz gasped, hiding herself as the audience was shocked to see the Owl Lady there. They watched as Eda pulled Emily away from Nina, who could barely crawl away.

"Are you alright, kid?" Eda asked Nina as Tito and Ruth rushed over to help Nina out.

"I'll… live," Nina said as she was helped up and carried away. As they carried her off, Nina coughed something in her hand. When she looked at it and she saw her blood...

Lilith stood up in shock, seeing her sister there. "Edalyn!" Lilith exclaimed, causing Eda to notice her sister coming towards her.

"We should go," Eda told Emily as she escorted her out of the arena, drawing confusion from the crowd. But Lilith flew down towards them with her staff, trying to stop them.

"Edalyn, stop this instant!" Lilith demanded, causing Eda to pause, before she shook her head and attempted to leave with Emily. "Eda, wait-!"

"Hello!" Luz shouted as she popped up Luz, surprising Lilith.

"Gah!" Lilith exclaimed, backing away in fright.

"Hi, I'm Luz, and I gotta say, nice presentation you gave, Head Witch Lilith!" Luz spoke up while Eda used this time to run away with Emily.

"Um, thanks but I really-" Lilith tried to pursue but Luz blocked her way.

"I got a lot of questions, like um, how did you get into the Emperor's Coven? What is your favorite food? What is your favorite color? Any bands you like and dislike? Hobbies?" Luz asked her.

"Um, I really have no time for this-"

"Say, how do you feel about, um, green eggs?" Luz asked her, just going with random questions. "Like, do they remind you of Sam I Am?"

"Who's Sam I-Am?" Lilith asked while moving around Luz, only to see that Eda and Emily were long gone.

Outside of the auditorium, Eda took Emily over to where the folded chairs were. To say the least, the owl mother was not pleased.

"What in the literal hell were you thinking of taking Luz here?!" Eda scolded Emily, who only looked down. "How can you take her here behind my back, even after I've made it clear how I feel about covens?!"

"I'm trying to be the responsible one in this family," Emily muttered.

"What does that supposed to mean?" Eda asked her.

"It means that I'm trying to make sure that Luz doesn't end up having a life like yours," Emily told her while glaring up at Eda. "It's bad enough that you enable Luz's behavior like getting into trouble in school and with the law. But Luz actually has options and she doesn't have to live a life like yours. She shouldn't have to live a life like yours."

Eda paused, looking down. "Okay, that is a fair point. But what you did at that duel, you could've killed someone," she pointed out while looking at the blood on Emily's hands and Emily's clothes. "You even got some of her blood on you."

"If I did kill her, it wouldn't be much of a loss anyway," Emily said nonchalantly. "Nina's a sadistic bully who picks on the weak, and she's not as tough as she thinks she is."

"And you think that justifies almost killing her?" Eda asked her.

Emily scoffed. "You're one to talk, Eda," she told her off. "You have no right to lecture me about it, considering that I know you've killed people before."

Eda was taken aback by this, but argued back against Emily. "I can lecture you all I want because I am your mother."

This angered Emily, who narrowed her eyes at Emily. "You're not my real mother!" she shouted before turning away.

"Emily, wait-" Eda tried to grab Emily's arm, but her hand just passed through her. She saw Emily vanish into thin air, revealing it to be another illusion. "Dang it, I hate it when she does this…" she muttered while looking down on the floor, thinking over what Emily told her.

Meanwhile, in a private room the Golden Guard was talking to someone in the shadows.

"So far, there was one student from Hexside who decided to join the Illusions Coven, sigil brand and everything," the Golden Guard said. "Lilith did most of the talking at the presentation-"

"Yes, but I want to know about… Emily," the person in the shadows spoke.

The Golden Guard hesitated. "Um…"

"And please, take your mask off when I speak to you," the figure told him. After a moment, the Golden Guard obeyed, removing his mask and dropping it down.

The Golden Guard here was not actually Hunter… but Cross Drakescale instead. His face looked uncertain, conflicted.

"Now then, let us try again," the man in the shadows said as he walked into the light, revealing himself to be Adrian Graye. "Give me an update about your dear friend, Emily…"

Outside of the covention center, Emily walked through the town with her own thoughts.

'How dare she,' Emily thought negatively, kicking a can that was in her way. She was still mad at Eda for lecturing her as if she was her mother. Even though she was not her mother, something Emily could never forget. Especially since it was because of Eda that her real mother left.

Emily noticed her reflection in the glass of a window. She saw tears in her eyes and blood stains on her shirt and face. She used her sleeve to wipe it off before she heard a voice.

"Would you like this instead?"

Emily saw a handkerchief being offered to her. She looked up, and much to her surprise, it was being offered by Lilith.

"Head Witch Lilith…?" Emily asked, shocked to see her.

"I was watching you earlier, Emily," Lilith said. "And when I saw you being taken away by Eda, I was confused about it. If it weren't for her, I would have gotten the chance to speak with you earlier."

Emily looked up to Lilith before grabbing the handkerchief to clean the blood off. "Thank you, and… I have been looking forward to speaking with you, Lilith. My name is Emily Tricks, but um… I was raised by Eda after she took me in…"

"After the boiling pox incident, am I right?" Lilith asked her, surprising Emily. Lilith sadly shook her head. "I'm aware of what my sister did, and I am grateful that she took responsibility by taking you in, even if it was only to ease her own guilt."

"Well… did you know that she has a daughter?" Emily asked her. "Her name is Luz, and I was there to help her find a coven she could join. She is unable to cast magic, but she's my sister, nonetheless."

"Hmm, perhaps I can help you and your sister," Lilith suggested. "Because I see something in you… something that reminds me of myself. Perhaps an apprenticeship?"

Emily was surprised by this, but she wasn't the type to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Y-Yeah, of course! Any help would be good. Thank you, Head Witch Lilith."

"Please, Emily, we're family," Lilith told her with a smile. "But we should keep this a little secret, since we don't want Eda to know about it. We both know that my sister is stubborn. If she learned about me agreeing to help you, she would put a stop to it herself. Just think of me as your… fairy godmother."

But while Emily listened to Lilith, she didn't see the shadow on the ground behind Lilith. The shadow didn't resemble Lilith… but it did have horns.

Emily thought she was talking to Lilith Clawthorne, but in actuality… she was talking to Maleficent.

Well now, don't you love it when we fit the theme? But while it's fun to watch the alternate versions of the Clawthornes and the Nocedas, there are other people worth checking out as well.

Let's flip through the channels… a universe where Sasha is raised by the Plantars, a universe where Luz ends up on Mewni… a world where Willow doesn't exist… nah, too contrived… Molly being a ghost hunter and Ollie is forever friends with a ghost?

Wait, that reminds me… I know which universe we can check out on… a universe with a little… role reversal…

Let's start with a familiar face that you all know, a boy named… Gideon. You see his unenthusiastic face and a blue and white trucker hat with a pine tree on top of his head. His once combed over white hair was now just shaggy. He wears a navy blue and light blue vest, gray pants and black boots. Now, this Gideon is obviously not a… gleeful child…

"Welcome to the Gravity Falls mystery tour. My name is Gideon Pines, and I'll be your mysterious tour guide," Gideon Pines said to a group of tourists that he led through the town. "The story of Gravity Falls began in 1000 C.E. when the native population evacuated from this valley due to believing that it was cursed, leaving behind only pottery, blankets, and remnants of their language. Eight centuries later, this town was founded during the time of the Oregon Trail, when this valley was rediscovered by Nathaniel Northwest, who founded the town of Gravity Falls on June 18th, 1842." He stopped, gesturing to a statue in the town square. "And here's the statue of the town's founder." The tourists gasped, which caused Gideon to look at the statue. He sighed. "Not again…"

The statue of Nathaniel Northwest had been vandalized and graffitied by three rowdy red-haired boys. They laughed. "Northwest can suck it!" one of them shouted.

"Hey!" someone shouted and everyone turned to see a red-bearded muscular man wearing the county police uniform. He pointed to those boys. "You boys… should add the red spray on his buttocks, that way it'll look like he has hemorrhoids!" he instructed.

"Alright, sheriff dad!" the boys cheered as they did as their dad told them.

"Um, why is that sheriff letting those boys vandalize town property?" asked one tourist, a blonde man with glasses who was with his family.

Gideon sighed again. "That over there is Sheriff Dan Corduroy, and those widdle boys in blue are his sons: Marcus, Kevin, and Gus. Last one goes to my school," he muttered in a tone that was less than enthusiastic.

"Say, my brother's name is Kevin too," spoke a young blonde girl named Gretel who was holding a hamster cage as she pointed at her brown haired older brother named Kevin.

"There has been beef between the Northwest and the Corduroys dating back one hundred fifty years ago when Archibald Corduroy led a revolt against Nathaniel Northwest after he broke his deal with him. Archibald and the lumberjacks of Gravity Falls built the Northwest Manor for Nathaniel and his family after Nathaniel promised them that they and the rest of the town would be invited to their annual Northwest Fest. Nathaniel broke that promise, closing the manor gates on Archibald and the lumberjacks. However, those gates fell when Archibald and the townsfolk stormed them and the mansion to confront Nathaniel. That night, Nathaniel Northwest mysteriously disappeared and the rest of the Northwest family fled, never to return. The manor was left abandoned for more than a century, gathering dust until it was bought by Fiddleford McGucket, a local inventor who recluses himself in his mansion."

The tourists were intrigued by the story. One of them, a red haired girl with glasses and purple clothes named Pepper-Ann spoke up. "So what happened to Nathaniel Northwest?"

Gideon gave a blank stare. "Do you know what 'mysteriously disappeared' means?" he dryly asked. "Then there's the…" He groaned. "The town's curse. A curse that the Northwest are blamed for."

"Ooh, what kind of curse is it?" one Venezuelan mother of two kids asked. She and her blonde husband looked enthusiastic about the tour.

"A curse that supposedly has caused the town a great deal of tragedy, starting with that night the Northwests broke their promise to the town and destroyed their good faith. But this curse also brings in tourists." Gideon gestured to the group. "Follow me."

Gideon led the group into a museum which was filled with animatronic creatures.

"Welcome to the Museum of Mystery," Gideon said in an enthusiastic and dry tone. "Here you can meet many of the creatures that are rumored to live in the woods near town," he explained while showing the tourists around. "Such as the Manotaur, Mermaids, Gnomes, and the rumored Gremoblin."

The tourists looked around in awe at the animatronics. There was an animatronic gnome that barfed rainbows, spreading a rainbow light around them. Another was an animatronic Manotaur lifting weights. And one was a unicorn shooting rave-party light shows from its horn.

"I've seen weirder stuff back in New York," spoke a young black girl with glasses and twin afro-pigtails. "But who made these animatronics?"

"These animatronics were made by Fiddleford McGucket, who generously donated these robotic wonders to the museum as a gift," Gideon said while looking bored as he led them through the exhibits. "These creatures you see are believed to be drawn in by the town's curse."

He led them to an exhibit that showed a blurry photo of a lake monster, accompanied by a small model of the creature known as the 'Gobblewonker'. "And this you see here is a photo that was taken of the rumored lake monster known as the Gobblewonker. It is said that this legendary creature lives in Lake Gravity Falls." He looked at the awed expressions of the tourists before he turned to look at the model, his eyes narrowed. "But in actuality, it turned out to be a robot that tried to kill me and my friends, and it was built by the same man who built these animatronics," he told them, which confused the tourists. "And if you think that's shocking, wait until you hear-" His mouth was immediately covered by his parents.

"Now that concludes the tour for today, folks," spoke Bud Pines, who was a hefty brown haired man wearing a black hat, white shirt with a long black coat, jeans, a Texas buckle, and cowboy boots.

"Y'all can explore the museum on yer own now," said Mrs. Pines, a gray-haired white-striped woman wearing a black top, jean short-shorts, and white tennis shoes. Her right shoulder arm sported a female symbol tattoo. "Please stop by the gift shop before you leave."

As the tourists began to look around, Gideon's parents pulled him aside. The young boy was forcefully pulled down to somewhere no one else could see them so they could have a talk in private. He looked up to his parents, who didn't look happy with him.

"Now what in the hell were you tryin' to do, boy? Sabotage our livelihood?" Bud asked him.

"All I was doing was telling the truth, dad," Gideon explained, only to cower in fear from his father's glare.

"Now you listen here, you little bastard," Bud hissed at him. "You're already on thin ice after you and your widdle friends destroyed our wax statues."

"But dad, those wax figures came to life and tried to kill us and you two, we had to destroy them," Gideon claimed.

"Oh there you go with that story, boy," Mrs. Pines said as she rolled her eyes. "Always tellin' us that Wax Sherlock is still around, but we ain't havin' that."

"The only reason we're still in business is thanks to McGucket, who provided us with these wonderful animatronics as replacements for our exhibits out of the goodness of his heart," Bud said. "So we don't appreciate you bad mouthing him. Understand?"

Gideon lowered his head, intimidated by his parents. "Yes, mama and daddy. I promise to keep my mouth shut in the future."

Bud and his wife gave stern nods. "Good," Bud said before the two walked away, leaving a downtrodden Gideon alone.

"Here you go, thanks for coming here to the Museum of Mystery," said a smiling black haired teenager with a pale complexion, green eyes, and glasses. He sat behind a register and he wore an ice-white colored vest with a green flannel shirt underneath, blue jeans, and black shoes. He had just finished making a sale with a customer. "Enjoy the rest of your day in Gravity Falls."

"Thank you, young man," said a brown haired man named Barkin. He began to walk away. "Wait until the guys at Middleton see my name tags."

"Another good day, Rob?" asked a gerbil-like man who was similar to Soos, only he had a black beanie, gray shirt, jeans, and a full head of black hair.

"You know it, Deuce," replied Robert Valentino. "And that was the last customer too."

"Closing time, yeah!" the handyman cheered as he put the closing sign up.

The two got ready to leave, Robert clocking out with his punch card along with Deuce. "See ya tomorrow, Rob," Deuce said as he left.

"Yeah, later Deuce," Robert responded after clocking out. But before he left, he spotted Gideon sitting over by one of the animatronics, specifically one of a giant spider. Seeing how downtrodden Gideon looked, a concerned Robert decided to walk over. "Hey Gideon,"

"Hey, Rob," Gideon responded with a sigh.

"Your parents are still mad at you?" Robert asked while sitting behind him.

"They are," he admitted. "Though, at the very least, I got off lucky compared to Pacifica. She is still straight up banned from the Museum."

"Yeah, it's a real bummer," Robert said while looking down. "But hey, at least you weren't grounded."

"True, but I just wish that my parents would believe me about the wax statues instead of thinking I was crazy," Gideon said.

Robert gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Hey, I believe you, man. After that Gobblewonker incident, I'll believe you about anything."

Gideon looked up to Robert with a smile. "Thanks, Rob."

"No problem, man," he said while looking over his phone. "I should go, but would you like to come visit Pacifica?"

This made Gideon perk up. "Yeah, I would like that."

Robert drove Gideon down to his place: the Valentino Funeral Home. After parking, they got out and went onto the front porch.

"It's mighty generous of your parents to let Pacifica stay over," Gideon said as Robert opened the door. "Especially considering their… dark quirks. Honestly, they creep me out."

"I mean, sure, they're a bit morbid and we don't see eye to eye much, but they're not that bad," Robert said as he entered the house. "Mom, dad, I'm home with a guest."

"Robert, and his little friend," spoke Robert's mother, Janice. She wore an all black dress with her hair wild and messy, and she was sporting black gloves and heels. "Gilbert, is it?"

"Um, Gideon, ma'am," Gideon responded.

"Oh yes, the Pines boy," spoke Greg Valentino, who had a balding head with brown sideburns, glasses, a black vest over his white button shirt, a black pants, gloves, and boots. "You can help yourself to some snacks in the pantry, try not to choke to death."

"We don't wish for someone to die young," Janice said with a grim tone. "That would be dreadfully… tragic."

"Hmm, yes. A child's death is the most tragic," Greg said, making Gideon nervous.

"So, um, we're just going to head upstairs, is Pacifica still up there?" Robert asked them.

"Of course, and don't worry, she's still alive… for now," Janice told him as she watched her son and Gideon walk upstairs.

In a guest room, Pacifica Northwest was looking over her conspiracy wall.

"And… there," she said while sticking a red line on a photo. She was wearing a rainbow headband, peace-sign earrings, and a green, purple and pink large shirt with a yellow llama symbol on it, with one shoulder hanging more than the other, showing her white tank top. She also wore jeans, sandals, and colorful wristbands. "What do you think, Hannah?"

"Ba-bawk!" responded a white feathered chicken wearing a yin-yang necklace.

They both looked over the conspiracy board, which was covered in pictures and photos. There was an old picture of Archibald Corduroy, which was connected to a photo of the Nathaniel Northwest statue. The string led up to Northwest Manor, plus a photo of a white-bearded McGucket, who wore a brown suit and red bowtie. There was also a photo of the Gobblewonker, a map of the town, and various other documents.

Off to the side, there were some personal photos of Pacifica's that weren't on the board. One of them was a photo of her with her parents, all of them happy. Her mom, Priscilla, was in a pink shirt and blue pants, a necklace with the peace symbol on it hanging around her neck. Her father, Preston, gave a peace sign while having shaggy brown hair and a handlebar mustache and wearing a brown vest with a tie-dye shirt and acid-wash jeans.

And then there was another photo, one of Pacifica with a friend. This friend was a pale-skinned girl with brown hair, mint-green eyes, a lavender sweater with a white collar sticking out, brown pants, and purple shoes.

She heard a knock on the door. "Come in," she said. Opening the door was Robert and Gideon, which she noticed. "Robert! Gideon! How's it going, guys?"

"Oh you know, business as usual at the Museum of Mystery," Gideon replied. "How's your stay with Robert's parents?"

"Pretty good," Pacifica responded while going to pull out something. "Although I've been kept up here working on this conspiracy board. I thought that if I laid all the pieces out, something would come to me, but no luck. I've even consulted the journal more for potential leads about my family," she said while holding up a book. But not just any book…

It was Journal #3.

Now for those curious, this version of Pacifica Northwest is from a family of anti-capitalistic hippies and she came to Gravity Falls to uncover the truth about her family's ancestors. While she had heard a lot of unsavory comments about the town's founder and her ancestor, Nathaniel Northwest, she believed that there was more to the story.

"But so far, I've been hitting dead ends," Pacifica said while looking through the journal. "I still can't crack the code…" She sighed while looking up at Gideon. "What I need is a new lead, man. Do you know if there's someone who could help me? Like a code cracker or a fortune teller?"

"Oh, heh… funny you would say that…" Gideon said nervously.

"Wait, do you?" Pacifica asked him, which made him even more nervous. "Who?"

"Um, no, no. That was a mistake," he tried to claim. "I-I don't know anyone like that."

Pacifica and Hannah gave suspicious looks at him, knowing that he was not being honest. "Who, Gideon? Who is it that you're not telling me about? Who were you thinking of?"

After a moment of hesitation, Gideon spilled the beans. "O-Okay, I do know someone who might be able to help you… but…"

"But what?" Pacifica asked him.

"It's just… I don't really have the best relationship with them right now and I don't think you should have anything to do with them," Gideon said.

"If they can help me, then I need to see them. So can you take me to them?" she asked him before she gave pleading eyes. "Please…?"

Gideon sweat dropped before giving a sigh. "Oh… okay, Pacifica."

"Yay! Thanks, bestie!" Pacifica shouted, hugging Gideon.

"So, going on a trip again?" Robert asked as Gideon nodded.

"Rob, can you drive us to… the Tent of Telepathy?" he asked him.

"You got it, kiddo," Robert responded as he pulled out his keys.

Later, Gideon, Pacifica, and Robert were outside a large blue tent that had a lot of people lined up in front of it.

"So how do you know these… Gleeful Twins, Gideon?" Pacifica asked him while looking up at the tent.

"Well, my free-spirited friend, me and the twins used to be friends," Gideon explained to her. "You see, we go to school together, and I used to hang out with Mason and Mabel all the time… until our falling out. Hence why the only way we may be able to talk to them is after their magic show." He gave an unsure look. "Of course, I'm still not sure if they'll agree to help us."

"But you three were friends, right? I'm sure it can't be that bad," Pacifica said.

"Trust me, it gets… complicated with them," Gideon admitted before he gave her a warning. "But Paz, no matter what they ask you, do not tell them two things: One, about the journal, and two, that you're a Northwest. Our cover story is that you're my cousin from out of town visiting for the summer. That's our story, alright?"

"Alright, whatever you say, Gideon," Pacifica agreed. "Though, aren't you being a bit paranoid?"

Gideon gave her a look. "You didn't grow up in this town like I did, Paz. You're still learning how things work around here, and the first rule in Gravity Falls is that there is no one you can trust."

She looked confused by this. "But you trust me and Robert, right?"

"I do trust you two, to an extent, but not fully," Gideon admitted before looking down. "It's the best way to avoid getting hurt."

Pacifica gave a concerned look, but before she could argue, Robert spoke up. "Hey guys, we're up in front," he said while turning to the cashier for the Tent of Telepathy. "Hey, Wendy. It's good to see you here."

"Hmm?" asked a disinterested Wendy Corduroy, the residential goth girl of the town. Her long red hair was covering the right side of her face and there was this intense look in her eyes. She had a lot of piercings on her ear and she wore a black choker. She also wore a black jacket with a black shirt with a frozen heart symbol, black pants with one pant-leg missing, and black boots. "Do I know you?"

"Um, it's me, Robert Valentino," he reminded her. "We… we go to school together. We take history and math, and we've known each other since kindergarten."

"Doesn't ring a bell," she said while blowing bubblegum. Gideon and Pacifica walked over.

"Mind selling us some tickets, Wendy?" Gideon asked formally.

"Sure, Gideon," Wendy responded, much to Robert's dismay.

"You remember him but not me?" Robert asked sadly.

Wendy noticed Pacifica. "Who's your little llama friend?" she asked Gideon.

"Hi, I'm Pacifica Nor-" She noticed Gideon shaking his head and quickly corrected herself. "Southeast! Yeah, Pacifica Southeast, an um, cousin of Gideon's. What's your name?"

"Wendy Corduroy," the goth redhead responded, making Pacifica's eyes widen.

"Wait, Corduroy…?" Pacifica asked in shock.

"Yeah, you must've met my old man or something," Wendy said, noticing her nervous look

"Oh… you're the sheriff's daughter, right?" Pacifica asked her nervously.

"What's it to ya?" Wendy asked, "Yeah, the sheriff's my dad, but it's not like we see eye to eye."

"I see…" Pacifica asked, trying to hide her nervousness. Wendy was already a scary-looking girl, but her being a Corduroy, the family that hated hers with a passion, made her even scarier.

"Oh, how about that one time we traded juice boxes cause you wanted the grape back in fourth grade," Robert brought up, trying to get Wendy to remember him.

"I've traded a lot of lunches in those times, can't expect me to remember all of them," Wendy told him, making Robert look stressed.

"I'm the one who Thompson always picks on a lot!" Robert reminded her. "You even defended me that one time!"

"Thompson picks on everyone, not really ringing any bells," Wendy told him, making Robert looking downright depressed that she apparently didn't remember him. "You wanna buy a ticket or what?"

After getting their tickets, the trio got to their seats. Pacifica looked around the tent, seeing a stage with curtains.

"Wow, this place is like a bizarro version of your family's Mystery Museum, Gideon," she commented. "They even have their own version of Deuce."

"Yeah, that's Soos, their head of security… aka their only security guard," Gideon said while looking over at a version of Soos who was wearing sunglasses, an ear-piece, and a black suit. He had combed over hair.

"I will protect this family with my life," Soos declared as he looked around for anything suspicious.

"Hey, it's starting," Pacifica said as she looked up on stage, ready to see what the Gleeful Twins were like.

With everyone seated, the show started as the spotlight hit the curtains. "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Tent of Telepathy! And to get you started, here's your host… Stanley Gleeful!"

Appearing in a puff of smoke was Stanley Gleeful, an old man wearing shades, a light-blue suit with a black shirt, a tie, and brown shoes. He also carried a spherical cane.

"Thank you, everyone, for coming here tonight!" Stanley declared. "Now you all want to see some spectacular sights? Well, you came to the right place. Everyone get ready to meet the stars of the show. Let's give a big hand to my magical nephew and niece… Dipper and Mabel!"

And with that Stan walked off the stage, everyone clapping as another puff of smoke appeared on the stage. Coming out of the smoke was a pair of twins: Dipper and Mabel Gleeful.

"Welcome to our show, everyone!" greeted Dipper, who had combed over hair while wearing a blue cape, blue button suit with a black tie and shirt, blue pants, and black shoes. He also sported a blue gemstone on his tie and had his birthmark on full display. What was distinctive about him was the white streaks on his brown hair. "I, with my mystic birthmark, am Dipper Gleeful."

"And I'm Mabel Gleeful," spoke Mabel, who had a blue gemstone hair clip and white streaks in her brown hair. She wore a dark-blue vest with light-blue button shirt, dark blue knee-length skirt with black boots. "And we're gonna put on quite a show for you tonight!"

"So I hope you're all ready for some magic!" Dipper declared while spreading out a sparkle of light, wowing the audience.

"Wow…" Pacifica said in awe. "Amazing."

"Yeah, amazing…" Gideon muttered sarcastically.

"Hit it, Stan!" Mabel shouted as she pointed to her Grunkle, who started playing the piano. The twins started singing a song…

"Oooh, we can see what others can't see," Mabel sang.

"It ain't some sideshow trick, it's innate abilities," Dipper sang.

"Where others are blind, we are futurely inclined!" the twins sang as they danced together. "And it won't be a fuss, if you were a couple of us!"

"Come on, everybody, rise up!" Mabel cheered as everyone rose from their seats.

"Stand up so we can keep on going!" Dipper declared while touching his gemstone as Paz, Gideon, and Robert stood up from their seats.

"Whoa, how did they…?" Pacifica asked in shock. She did not expect to rise from her seat while everyone started to clap their hands.

"Keep on going!" Dipper declared as he pointed to an old lady. "You wish your son would call you more!"

"I'm leaving everything to my cats!" declared an old woman with her cats on her lap, one of them meowing.

"We sense that you've been here before!" Mabel sang as she pointed to Sheriff Dan, who was covered in Gleeful Twins merchandise, including a shirt with their faces.

"What gave it away?" Sheriff Dan asked with a smile.

"Wendy's dad comes here a lot…" Gideon pointed out in exasperation until he saw Mabel looking at him and smiling, making him nervous.

"And look at this magnifica," Dipper sang to Pacifica with a wink while the crowd continued to clap. "Something tells me your name is Pacifica!"

Pacifica was shocked by this. "How does he know…?"

"So welcome all ye…!" the twins sang as they waved their hands. "To the Tent of Telepathy~!"

"Thanks for coming…!" Dipper sang.

"To see him and me!" Mabel sang the last part while the crowd cheered for them.

"Thank you, all! You're all miracles for being here!" Dipper shouted as he summoned a handkerchief, wiping his face.

"But that was just the opening number, so let's start the real show!" Mabel shouted while she and her brother smiled at their audience.

Mabel held up an egg and placed it on a frying pan. Dipper covered the egg with a towel and then slammed a hammer down on it. Mabel removed the towel, revealing that the egg was no longer on the frying pan.

"Ooh!" the crowd said in awe.

"Sheriff Dan, your hat," Mabel said as she pointed to Sheriff Dan, who removed his hat and looked down in awe.

"Eggs!" he declared, seeing that his hat was filled with eggs, which wowed the audience.

"See this hat?" Mabel asked as she showed the audience the hat. "Let's see if we can find a rabbit in there."

Dipper stuck his hand in as he pulled something out of the hat while Mabel held it. He pulled out a long stick from the hat. "No rabbit," he said before pulling out an umbrella from the hat before opening it. "Nope! Not in there, folks!" he declared as the audience laughed. He then pulled out a rabbit. "Oh, there's the rabbit!"

"Aw!" Pacifica said in awe while Gideon rolled his eyes.

Mabel laid on the table while Dipper tapped on his forehead, showing his Big Dipper birthmark, while he waved his hand upon his sister.

"I call upon the spirits… levitate my sister!" Dipper chanted, touching his gemstone as Mabel rose up from the table as he levitated as well, wowing the audience. "Oh no, folks! The spirits have levitated me as well!"

"Sorry, bro, but that's on me!" Mabel replied as the audience laughed, enjoying the twins' antics.

"Take a card, any card from my hand," Dipper said as he waved the card deck at the audience. "How about you, Lakecheck?"

"Sure, bro. I'll pick one," said Poolcheck, or Lakecheck as he prefers. He had a beard, pink shades, a fishing hat, and was dressed like a fisherman. He looked calm and chill as he picked out a card.

"Now hold that card and don't show it to us," Dipper said as Lakecheck did as he was told. "Mabel, what kind of card does he have?"

Mabel tapped on her head, making a hum. "Hmm… the Ace of Spades?"

"Whoa… it is!" Lakecheck said, turning to hold his card up, wowing the audience.

"That's an example of our power of telepathy, folks!" Dipper declared while standing next to his sister. "Me and my sis can read and look into minds."

"Including each other's minds," Mabel declared.

"As twins, we basically finish each other's-"

"Sandwiches?" Mabel asked.

"I was gonna say sentences, but now I want a sandwich," Dipper said while pulling out a sandwich from thin air, making the audience laugh, including Pacifica.

"They're a pretty funny bunch, aren't they?" Paz asked while Gideon just shrugged.

"You can say that…"

For the final act, they brought out a large box, along with some swords.

"And now, we'd like a volunteer to step into this box," Mabel said while looking around. "Who'd be our unfortunate victim for tonight?"

"How about…" Dipper looked around, seeing members of the audience raising their hands up to get picked. "How about…" He seemingly aimed for Pacifica, causing Gideon to look worried. Dipper only briefly looked at the two before he found someone else. "Heath!"

Stepping up was Heath, who is the Reverse Tats, but with less tattoos and muscles. He was wearing a business suit. "Hi, I'm Heath. I got a local business as a lawyer for accidents. This won't hurt me, will it?"

"Not much," Mabel said as she and Dipper escorted him into the box. "But hey, one less lawyer in the world, huh?" she asked as the crowd laughed.

Once Heath was in the box, Dipper closed it and locked it up tight. "And now… let the sacrifice begin…"

He and Mabel hold up the blades, Mabel inserting one blade into a slit in the side of the box. A grunt was heard. Dipper inserted a blade at where the chest was and screams could be heard. The twins insert more blades in, followed by another…

"AAAAH!" A scream was heard coming from inside the box, causing the audience to look very uneasy as they wondered if this was part of the show or not, especially when they saw blood coming from out of the box. Mabel held up one sword and gave a sinister grin as she jammed the sword at where the head was. "AAAAAAH!"

The audience gasped in horror, a few of them screamed. Pacifica was covering her mouth in horror, looking shocked. Dipper then went to open the latches.

"Now then… let's see how Heath is," Dipper said as he opened the box and the crowd gasped to see…

That there was nobody inside.

"Don't worry everyone, I'm alright," Heath said as he stepped out from behind the box, alive and unharmed, much to the relief of the audience. After a moment, the crowd began to cheer and clap for Heath and the twins.

"Whoa… that sure fooled me," Pacifica said, sounding relieved while clapping.

"I'll admit, I was a little worried," Robert said as he clapped.

"A huge thank you to Heath for being in on our little trick," Dipper said. "We apologize if we disturbed you. Every now and then, we like to be a little…"

"Dark with our tricks," Mabel finished while winking at the audience. "You should see us on Halloween."

After Heath got off the stage, Dipper and Mabel held hands as they took a bow while the audience cheered. "Thank you for coming here tonight, folks! But sadly, this show must end," Mabel said with a sad frown.

"But hey, feel free to come again next time if you wish to see more of our magnificent miracles at the Tent of Telepathy!" Dipper declared as the audience cheered for them.

"Bravo, to these kids, everyone!" Stanley declared as he was at the exit with a bag. "But now, a final illusion before you leave… the incredible Sack of Mystery!" He held up the bag in front of the visitors. "When you put your money into it, it will mysteriously disappear…"

"Oh, of course!" a visitor said as he put his money in the bag.

"That makes perfect sense!"

"What a nice man!"

"That was totally worth the drive!"

As the other guests and visitors headed for the exit, the trio Pacifica, Gideon, and Robert got up from their seats.

"I don't know about you guys, but I am just… wow. They do this every week?" Pacifica asked.

"Yeah," Gideon replied as he saw Soos walking up to them.

"You two," Soos said, pointing to Gideon and Pacifca. "The Gleeful twins would like to see you backstage."

"Oh, now that works things out perfectly," Pacifica said with a smile before she turned to Robert. "Rob, we'll see you outside."

"Yeah, we got to… visit old friends," Gideon said.

"Don't worry, I'll wait out here," he said as he spotted Wendy and walked over to meet up with her. "Hey, Wendy. Um, about earlier-"

"Who are you?" Wendy asked him, causing Robert to just sigh in defeat.

Pacifica and Gideon followed Soos backstage, where they saw the twins just hanging around.

"Ugh, I think I have some of the fake blood on my vest," Mabel said while looking at herself in the mirror before noticing Gideon and Pacifica behind her at her reflection. "Oh my…" She turned around with a smile. "Giddy!"

"W-Wait, Mabel, I-" Before Gideon could finish, Mabel ran up and hugged him tightly. "Not the hugs!"

"Oh, it's so nice of you to visit!" Mabel declared. "I'm so glad to see my favorite cutie again!"

"Mabel! Let me go!" Gideon cried out in a panic. "Dipper! Tell your sister to let go!"

Dipper just sighed while setting down a book he was reading, turning to Gideon and Pacifica. "Mabel, let go of Gideon," he ordered, Mabel reluctantly doing as she was told. Dipper then cleared his throat. "It was quite the surprise to see you here, Gideon. Of course, it means you probably want something…"

"Hi," Pacifica greeted, walking up to Dipper. "Great show back there. But I just want to know… how did you know my name?"

"Me and Mabel kept up to date on the happenings and going-ons around town," Dipper admitted. "When somebody new moves in, we tend to hear about it. Any newcomers are interesting to us."

"Although in the case of our Grunkle, their wallets are what's interesting to him," Mabel added.

"It's why we're here…" Gideon admitted while trying to distance himself from Mabel. "Because you two know more about this town and everyone in it than I do."

Mabel pouted in disappointment. "Aw poo, so you came here for information rather than seeing widdle ol' me," she said while pinching Gideon's face, making him wince.

Pacifica was still looking at Dipper. "So I know the box thing was obviously a trick, was everything we just saw out there was some form of trickery as well or was some of it real magic?"

"Oh, do you believe in real magic?" Dipper asked, looking curious.

"Since I've gotten to town, I've been attacked by fairies, gnomes, and living wax statues, so yeah I believe in magic," Pacifica confirmed. "But you didn't answer my question."

"That's because we like to keep things ambiguous," Dipper said with a shrug while studying Pacifica. "And while I do know your name, Pacifica, I don't know why you're actually here…"

"Like Gideon said, we're here for information," she said. "I'm his cousin from out of state, and I'm spending the summer with him. But then I learned that this town has this dark secret. Like, I'm not an aura reader, yet, but I can sense the weird vibes. So I want to learn more about what I'm dealing with. Which is why I came to you two," she explained. "So would you help me?"

Dipper looked at Pacifica and was about to respond, only for Mabel to step in, getting in front of Pacifica.

"Say, I don't think I've formally introduced myself to you yet," Mabel said while smiling to Pacifica. "The name's Mabel Gleeful, the more adorable twin, and I must say that any friend of Gideon's is a friend of ours. We would love to help you, but we can't for tonight since we have a few more shows to do."

"I understand, you do seem busy," Pacifica responded with a nod.

"But I do have an excellent idea," Mabel proposed, hanging her arm around Pacifica. "We can discuss this over lunch tomorrow…"

"Really? That sounds great!" Pacifica replied while Gideon watched in dismay, but it was too late for him to stop this.

"Excellent! We can consider this a double date!" Mabel declared. "Me with Gideon, and you with Dipper. How's that, Dips?"

Dipper sighed. "I suppose it will do.."

"Great!" Mabel shouted before turning to Paz. "Pacifica, you'll have to meet up at my place before the date. Just so that I can fix your… everything."

"What's wrong with the way I look?" Pacifica asked her.

"Oh, nothing, just that the place where we'll be eating at has a dress code," Mabel said. "But it'd also just be great to have you over so we can get to know each other better…"

After that, Gideon and Pacifica left the Tent of Telepathy, with Gideon looking visibly unhappy.

"I can't believe what you've dragged me into," Gideon complained. "Mabel is obsessed with me, you know."

"Don't worry, it's just one lunch, Gideon," Pacifica said. "Besides, I didn't think the twins were that bad."

"That's because you don't know them like I do," Gideon responded, looking around before continuing. "But Paz, I must warn you to keep your guard up and not lower it when you're with Mabel…"

Pacifica nodded. "Don't worry, Gideon, I'll be careful."

The next day, Pacifica went to meet Mabel at her home… which was a log cabin in the woods, much to her surprise.

"This is where Dipper and Mabel live? Whoa…" Pacifica said in awe as she walked onto the front porch, passing by a white goat with a brown stomach that was missing the right part of his horn. She knocked on the door and answering it was Soos. "Hey, I'm Pacifica, from the show last night. Mabel asked me to come here."

Soos gave a nod and turned around. "Mabel! A girl named Pacifica is here!"

"Let her in!" Mabel shouted back as she rushed downstairs. When she saw Paz, she smiled. "Ah, Pacify, welcome to my humble abode," she said, acting very friendly. "It's so good that you were able to find your way here."

"Well, you said you want to help me-" Pacifica said before she felt Mabel grabbing her hand, pulling her inside. "I did see a goat nearby…"

"Oh that's just Samuel, he's always around," Mabel said as she brought Pacifica through the house. "Come, let me introduce you to my friends!"

As Mabel led the way, Pacifica looked around and noticed an old, broken grandfather clock. "What happened to that clock?" she asked.

"Oh that old thing?" Mabel asked in a dismissive tone. "It's been broken since me and Dipper started living here with our great uncle Stanley."

Pacifica was even more curious about that. "So this is your great-uncle's home?"

"Well, before that it was built for and belonged to his twin brother and our other great-uncle, Stanford Pines," Mabel explained. "He was a well-respected scientist and great-uncle Stan's twin brother. He used to live in Gravity Falls, but he disappeared thirty years ago, his will leaving the cabin to his brother, Stanley."

"Did you ever find out what happened to your great-uncle Stanford?" Pacifica asked her.

"Nah, it's just one of the many unexplained disappearances in Gravity Falls," Mabel admitted nonchalantly. "A byproduct of the Northwest curse."

This caused Pacifica to wince. "So, if you and Dipper live with you great-uncle, what about your… parents?"

Mabel sighed while looking down. "Our parents… died in a fire when we were both so young. I hardly even remember them, but our dear old great-uncle Stanley took us in out of the goodness in his heart."

"Oh… oh, man. I'm sorry to hear that, Mabel," Pacifica said sympathetically. "You have my condolences."

"I appreciate it, Pacifica," Mabel replied as they made it up to her bedroom, Mabel leading Pacifica inside. "Now then, I'd like to introduce you to my friends… Candy Chiu and Grenda Grendanator."

Popping some bubble gum was Candy Chiu. She wore a green collar blazer with a white button shirt, dark green tie, black skirt and green knee-stockings with black mary-janes. "Is this the hippy you've been talking about?" Candy asked while holding a croquet mallet.

"Hmm," Grenda grunted. Her hair was down with a small yellow bow tied on the side of the ponytail at the side of her face. She wore a light yellow long-sleeved shirt with a collar and a light pink sweater vest over the top of it. She also wore a bright pink belt with an olive green buckle on the front, pale blue jeans, and olive-colored shoes.

"Hi, you two must be Mabel's friends," Pacifica said as she waved to them. She offered Candy a handshake, but Candy didn't reciprocate. She then tried it with Grenda, who just glared at her, which made Pacifica nervous. "Heh, nice to meet you two…"

The two looked unimpressed as Candy spoke up. "Mabs, you know I love you like a sister, but I don't think Paula McCarthy over here is good enough to date Dipper."

"Hey, play nice, Candy," Mabel told her before turning to Pacifica, flashing an unapologetic smile. "Sorry, they're really nice once you get to know them."

Pacifica glanced at them as they gave Pacifica glares, making her nervous. That is, until she saw something making their presence known. "Oh my gosh… who is that?"

Mabel turned and saw her pet pig wearing a blue cape. "Oh, that's Waddles. My pet pig, and pretty much our mascot."

"Oh, he looks so cute!" Pacifica said, adoring the pig as she went over to pet him. "I love animals, in fact I have a pet chicken named Hannah that I rescued from a chicken nugget farm."

"Really? That's noble of you," Mabel said. "I got Waddles from an organic farmer named Sprott, who runs an organic farm and an animal sanctuary nearby. Waddles was the runt of his litter and I got him after we connected."

"Aw, that's sweet of you," Pacifica responded, smiling.

"Now enough introductions, it's time to prep you up," Mabel said, going to her closet and opening it up, showing many, many clothes. "See anything you like?"

"Whoa…" Pacifica said in shock. This was far more clothes than she had ever owned. "How can you afford all of this?"

"I have my ways," Mabel said. "Now let's try them out on you…"

One outfit Pacifica tried on was a pink dress with gloves and an umbrella.

"You look like a grandma going through a midlife crisis," Candy commented.

Another outfit Paz wore was a blue blazer with a pink blouse, blue skirt, and heels.

"You want to poke people with those shoulder-pads?" Candy asked with a sneer.

Pacifica next tried out a black punk-rock shirt with white and purple stripes, black and red striped skirt, striped leggings, and black boots.

"Too much stripes!" Candy complained.

Pacifica then wore an outfit similar to Candy's, but with a red blazer suit and her hair tied in a ponytail. She noticed Candy looking displeased.

"If you dare to wear that, I'm gonna end you… socially," Candy promised, making Pacifica gulp.

Another outfit Pacifica tried on had a blue bow around her ponytail, a black vest with a blue long-sleeve blouse, long blue dress, and black flat shoes.

"Um, well?" Pacifica asked, looking down at the outfit she was wearing.

"I think you look perfect," Mabel said with a smile while turning to her friends. "Well?"

Candy just scoffed. "If she was a redhead… but it fits where she's going."

"She looks… good enough," Grenda agreed.

Mabel smiled before grabbing Pacifica's hand again. "Come on, there's something else I wish for you to see…"

Mabel took Pacifica outside of the cabin to show her something interesting.

"Behold…" Mabel waved her hand to show the blonde a large hole in the ground. "The Bottomless Pit."

"Whoa…" Pacifica said while looking into the pit. "It's so… dark down there."

"You think it's cool, don't ya?" Mabel asked as she saw the hippy girl nod. "The Bottomless Pit is one of the many mysteries of Gravity Falls, since it seems to loop back on itself." She looked at the distracted Paz while walking directly behind her. "Many things thrown or fell in are eventually tossed right back out of there. Some things may not return, which makes it impossible to predict what will return and what won't…"

She raised her hand up, reaching for Pacifica's back. The blonde was too distracted to see what Mabel was doing. One push would easily send Pacifica into the pit…

…if Mabel didn't wrap her arm around Pacifica instead.

"But hey, we can't keep the boys waiting now, can we?" Mabel asked with a smile while pulling Pacifica back.

"Uh no, I don't think so," Pacifica replied.

"Great!" Mabel said as she brought Pacifica away. "I think the two of us will get along just fine…"

Later, at a fancy aquatic-themed restaurant, Pacifica and Gideon were on their double date with the Gleeful twins. Mabel and Gideon were seated at one table while Dipper and Pacifica were seated at another.

"That's a nice suit you're wearing, Gideon," Mabel complimented while looking at Gideon wearing a black tux. "You look cute in a tux…"

"Um, thanks Mabel…" Gideon responded nervously. In fact, he was so nervous his arms were sweating.

"You know, I've missed you a lot, Giddy," Mabel said while twirling her drink with her straw. "Just hanging out like the good old days."

"Yeah, before our falling out…" Gideon muttered.

Mabel frowned at this, but she looked at him with… concern on her face.

"So… how are you doing these days?" Mabel asked him, which surprised Gideon. "Are things, like, doing good for you? Are your folks treating you well?"

"Oh, well…" Gideon looked down. "I'm… doing fine, and my folks are treating me fine."

Mabel didn't look convinced. "Really? Cause I know what they're really like, Gideon," she told him. "And I'm willing to help you if you just ask."

"Hey, there's no need, really," Gideon reassured her. "I can handle my parents myself."

"If you say so." Mabel sighed while looking down on her drink with her own thoughts.

Meanwhile, at Pacifica and Dipper's table, Pacifica was talking to the waiter.

"So can I have the vegan menu please? I don't want anything with meat in it," Pacifica said.

"Alright, and what about the young gentleman, arrgeh?" spoke Jean-Luc, the Canadian pirate waiter.

"I'll just have… one of everything," Dipper said with a bored shrug while focusing on a book.

After the waiter left, an awkward silence hung over the two. Pacifica looked across the table at Dipper, who was more focused on the book he was reading than her. She kept calm while looking down on her drink. Eventually, she decided to talk.

"Say, um… I just want to say, I, um… heard about what happened to your parents," she said, which caused Dipper's eyes to shift from the book. "I'm sorry about what happened to them. Mabel told me how they died in the fire and… I couldn't imagine what an experience like that did to you two."

"…So that's the story she used, huh?" Dipper asked while closing his book.

"What…?" Pacifica asked in confusion before Dipper continued.

"Tell me, Pacifica, or Paz if you prefer," he said. "How long have you been living in this town? A week? Two? You like it here? Enjoy the scenery?"

"Um, I'll admit it's… strange, but it's not all that bad," Pacifica answered. "The forests are very nice."

"And what about your relationship with Gideon?" Dipper asked her while intertwining his fingers below his chin. "Since it's funny, I never heard him say anything about having a cousin before…"

"Oh… well, we don't really know each other that well," she claimed. "My parents move around a lot and this summer is actually the first time me and Gideon have met."

"I see," Dipper replied as he sighed. "Then I should warn you about him," he said, causing her to look at him in confusion. "You see, Gideon… is the type of person who'd sacrifice someone else to save himself."

"What?" Pacifica asked him in disbelief. "No, Gideon wouldn't do that…"

"Let me remind you something, Pacifica," he said while looking more stoic. "You're new to this town, you don't know how things work around here. You step on the wrong boot, you'll end up… disappeared," he told her. "Which is why I'm being nice to you and giving a warning. You can enjoy your stay, but if you stick around long enough, you'll learn." He paused, allowing his warning to sink in before he continued. "But I don't believe Gideon is the only reason that you're here, is it?"

Pacifica hesitated before answering. "To be honest, I'm actually interested in the Northwest curse."

This got the Gleeful boy's attention. "Oh, and why are you so interested in that old family's curse?"

"Um, well… I like a good mystery," Pacifica claimed. "Like, I heard about the curse, but I want to know if there's more to the Northwest story. I think that there might even be some kind of cover-up and that McGucket may be involved."

"Really?" Dipper asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Yeah, like a few days ago, me, Gideon, and Robert were attacked by one of his robot monstrosities built by his lab while we were at the lake," Pacifica explained. "We think it was protecting something, though we aren't sure what…"

Dipper scratched his chin. "Interesting… listen here, Pacifica," he said to her. "Right now, you're playing the most dangerous game with the most powerful person in town. I would suggest giving it up."

"I'm not afraid," Pacifica declared. "Be it the capitalists or a crazy mad inventor, I don't fear the man, especially ones who keep secrets."

Dipper smiled. "Well, I do agree with you on one thing. McGucket has secrets. And if you wish to start digging up dirt on him… I suggest the abandoned amusement park."

"Amusement park?" she asked in confusion "What are you talking about?"

"Well, back in the nineties, McGucket built an amusement park here in Gravity Falls," Dipper explained to her. "But it got shut down due to an accident that resulted in the deaths of three teenagers. Just another tragedy in a long line of similar incidents," he said, which shocked Pacifica. "However, despite the park being shut down more than a decade ago, it was never torn down. Like, there's something there that McGucket doesn't want to be destroyed. That, or he's waiting for a deal with Cedar Fair," he indicated. "But there might be something worth finding there. If you want, we could break into that place tonight and check it out."

"Wait, you… want to come with us?" she asked him. "You and Mabel?"

"Of course," Dipper responded with a smile.

"But… why?" Pacifica asked, confused.

"Because I find you interesting, Pacifica," Dipper explained. "Because you're something new. And I want to see where your investigation goes…"

After the date, Pacifica and Gideon both walked together after saying their goodbyes to the Gleeful twins. As they walked, the two talked about what Pacifica and Dipper discussed.

"Dipper suggested that?!" Gideon asked in shock. "Breaking into that abandoned amusement park? That place is supposed to be haunted, not to mention that there's been even more deaths since the place shut down due to people sneaking in and getting into mysterious accidents. It's pretty much a death trap in there."

"But it's still a lead," Pacifica pointed out. "And since they offered to help me, I'm not going to pass up on that help." She turned to Gideon. "But hey, you don't have to come with me if you don't want to."

Gideon just sighed. "I'm not going to let you go to a haunted amusement park alone with those twins. So I'm coming with you."

She smiled and brought Gideon into a hug. "I appreciate this, Gideon. Thank you," she said to him. "We can meet back up later when it's night and I can ask Robert to drive us."

"Yeah, we can get Rob to tag along," Gideon agreed before deciding to warn her. "But remember to not trust the Gleeful twins, Pacifica. With them, there's always a different game that they're playing…"

At the Gleeful cabin, the twins were in their room, talking about their plans for tonight.

"You know, maybe we could invite Wendy and her friends along," Mabel said while boredly holding up her amulet and making things float up. "That way, we can get some backup."

"That is a good idea," Dipper said while reading his book and scratching Waddles' head, which the pig enjoyed. "So… what do you think of Pacifica, sis?"

"Oh, she seems nice…" Mabel responded with a smile. "Naive, but she's interesting. What about you? What do you think of her?"

"I do think she's interesting as well," Dipper replied while closing his book. "Her arrival is the most interesting thing to have happened to this town for a long time."

"Yeah, after all… it's been more than a century since a Northwest was in Gravity Falls," Mabel responded with a gleeful look. "And for that reason alone, we'll definitely want to keep close tabs on her."

"Of course, although…" Dipper looked down while pulling the fake cover off from his book. "Pacifica might not like what she finds in her investigations…"

The book he had been reading was the second journal all this time…

Downstairs, Stanley Gleeful stood in front of the broken grandfather clock. He turned the arms to a specific time, which caused the wall behind the clock to open up. He looked down and saw the secret passage before Stan looked around to make sure nobody was watching.

He sighed and then walked down the secret passage after making sure to close the door behind him. The grandfather clock was back in place, leaving Stan to do whatever he does down there.

Back at the Pines' museum and home, Gideon returned and was about to head up to his room when he heard his parents speak to him.

"Stop right there, boy!" Bud told him, causing Gideon to stop as he turned to his folks. "We need someone to restock the gift shop, and that someone is you."

"But dad-"

"No buts, child," his mom told him. "Now go and restock."

Gideon wanted to protest, but instead he just looked down and sighed. "Yes, ma'am," he said as he walked over to restock the gift shop. As he walked past the animatronic gnome, the gnome's eye suddenly moved slowly, focusing on Gideon. The eye was actually a camera…

In an unknown room, footage of Gideon was shown on one screen, but it was just one of many monitors in the room. Each monitor showed different parts of Gravity Falls. All being watched by a man in a chair, who had his eyes on almost everyone in Gravity Falls…

This man was Fiddleford McGucket. He had a full gray beard, glasses, and a brown suit with a red bowtie as he sat in his chair and looked at his monitors, watching Gideon specifically. Coming up next to him was a bald man in a black suit. His right eye was pink with an x over it and he was holding up a tray with a drink.

"Here's your drink, Master McGucket," the butler spoke, handing him the drink.

"Thank you, Ivan," McGucket responded as he sipped his drink. "Now then… your move, Gideon."

Sometime later, on a table, someone was making small figurines of Bud and his wife, the Gleeful twins, and Pacifica. After putting the finishing touch on the Bud figurine, a voice was heard.

"'Boy is that useless son of ours easy to pick on,'" the voice imitated Bud's voice before it imitated Mrs. Pines's voice. "'Yeah, go deal with that Wax Sherlock head for us, you useless boy!'"

The figure then picked up the Mabel figurine. "'Hi, I'm Mabel, and I'm super obsessed with Gideon! If only he would let me get into his personal space more,'" he mocked before holding up the Dipper figurine. "'And I'm Dipper, and I'm way smarter than Gideon, I'm a genius and arrogant.'"

Lastly, the figure held up the Pacifica figure. "'And I'm Pacifica, I'm like such a naive hippy girl. I love my new friend Gideon and I trust everyone, including the people that I shouldn't trust…'"

The figure smashed the figurines out of frustration, with the exception of the Pacifica figurine, which he stopped himself from harming. He took a few breaths before letting out a sigh. He pulled open a drawer, revealing that it was filled with broken figurines. The broken figures of the Pines parents and the Gleeful twins were dumped into the drawer.

"Oh you'll see, Paz," Gideon Pines said while forming a creepy smile. "You'll all see…"

Usually, in a universe like this things are back-and-white. The good guys are now the bad guys and the bad guys are now the good guys. But unlike other role reversal situations, things aren't so clear cut here. There is far more ambiguity where everyone stands…

In this version of Gravity Falls, you really have to ask yourself who you can trust… and just how different this universe really is compared to the prime?

How different indeed, Guardian. How different indeed.

So we've decided this April Fools we've rewarded you all a double-feature before we head back to basics. Originally, the plan was just to do the Emily AU, but we figured that since we finished the Gravity Falls arc, we could treat you guys to a Gravity Falls AU as well. Especially since the fake trailer for a Reverse Falls visual novel was once released on April 1st.

Because we did this, we decided to put Helluva Dad on hold until we finish Book Two, since we're so close to the end.

On the first half of the special with Emily, this AU was a fun way to revisit an early season one episode but retroactively have characters from later in the fic to appear in it. Like, we have mentioned before that in the timeline where Lilith adopted Luz, Nina takes over Glandus. That happened in this timeline as well, for which we've decided to show.

Emily is the reason why Zee and Cross are already associates of the Clawthornes, and when Graye learns that Emily is alive, he decided to use a spy to get close to her. That spy being, well, Cross. So because of Graye, Luz already knows that Cross and Zee are cousins.

As for Reverse Falls, we wanted to give this AU our own unique take. We did draw inspiration from Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated at the beginning.

There's also some fun cameos such as:

-Hamster, Gretel, Kevin and their parents from Hamster and Gretel.

-Pepper-Ann from Disney's Pepper-Ann

-Lunella Lafayette from Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur

-Barkin from Kim Possible

When doing our take on Reverse Falls, we do want to avoid the usual problems associated with this AU. Like, we didn't want things to feel exactly the same as normal Gravity Falls, with just the names swapped around. We didn't want to be overly edgy, and we definetely didn't want to sexualize the characters.

Rather than make Dipper and Mabel overly outright evil in this AU, they're a lot more ambiguous, especially since it's revealed that Gideon is actually a lore more like his canon version than he lets on, which we thought would be a fun twist.

Also, the brown-haired girl that Pacifica has a photo of, is human Amity Blight. Yes, this version of the AU is where Pacifica and Amity are friends in this.

Lastly, we've realized that one of Wendy's brothers are named Gus... so right now, there are three Guses in Gravity Falls right now in the main story. We will make a reference this.

Review Section:

BlueKnight-X2: Yeah, we've decided to bring in Aqua for this.

Crash X Fusion: To be fair, Rachel is still going through trauma, and isn't familiar with who Angel is since her actions weren't made public. So you really can't blame her for being in a bad state of mind, that she's willing to take any hope offered to stop Weirdmageddon. Honestly, the Horrible Judge of Character trope can be justified in this case. And hey, we understand you got a lot to do. And we can confirm now that Luke Gordon and Joseph Gates did not survive from the portal experiment explosion.

Shuffollower: Rachel is probably in her early 20s.

Blue Tagg: We'll see.

Matteso585: 1) Journal 3 stated that it took Stan a week to recover his memories. So Weirdmageddon probably took place on a Wednesday a week before the twins' birthday. 2) No spoilers. 3) Mabel's scrapbook doesn't matter. Stan remembers Dipper's real name, so it'll take time for him to recover, canonically a week. 4) None. There are no odds to that.

Franco Almiron: Soon.

Ultimate-drax: Yup, shocked that Manny's alive, huh?

Xndelongchamps: I'd say she' s a little the same, though events of Kingdom Hearts canon would probably be different in the LCU.

Spantidem7: Some of your suggestions don't make sense... and you're a bit obsessed about some of them.

1) Kinda.

2) I don't know.

3) Yes.

4) Right now only yes for Hazbin Hotel.

5) Zoophobia isn't part of the Hellverse.

6) She is really more of an evil counterpart to Puck and Amity than anything else.

7) I mean, Oberon was a dictator…

8) Since the Axolotl is God... yeah, technically.

9) Yes and yes.

10) They weren't aware of Weirdmageddon, given how contained the event was. It was over before they learned about it.