Dipper and the Forces of Secrets
Summary- After rescuing Dipper from Toffee's clutches, Bill and his friends are more determined than ever to discover what's really going on. However, the more they dig, the more lies they uncover. Now our heroes face their hardest lesson yet: Some secrets were never meant to be told, for sometimes the truth can be the greatest evil of all!
Disclaimers: I do not own Gravity Falls
Author's Notes: Here we are, back again, and on time! Yes! What new mysteries will we unravel in this exciting new part, let's read and find out! Thank you all as always for reading and please review.
(Back on Earth)
Nothing had changed and yet nothing was the same...
Bill Cipher sighed as he stared up at the celling of his bedroom, he was still in Gravity Falls. He was still with his friends; he should be happy and yet. Bill raised his hand up to the celling, examining it like it held all the answers. After their narrow escape with Toffee, he was whisked away back to Earth indefinitely. Again, he should be happy, but Toffee was still out there, and he made it very clear that this was far from over.
How? Because He had wanted Bill to destroy his magic, something Bill hadn't done. The whispering spell had been interrupted by Dipper when he broke free of his cell. So even though the cane was gone, Bill managed to absorb some of his power. Unfortunately, his Uncle Tad had the rest, and he had yet to be found. Speaking of power, Dipper's own magic had grown enormously since Bill's arrival and now the human boy even had cheek marks of his own. Those cheek marks frightened Bill, for he felt that he had somehow caused them. The young Demon Prince had thoughtlessly used his magic on Dipper without thinking of the possible consequences. There was no telling what the long-term effects could be. Add that to the lurking doom of that lingered due to Tad's and Toffee's escape and everything was anything but normal. Still, life was going on as if it was, well there was one difference. Ford and Stan were not leaving them alone as much as they used to. Which made finding out any answers nearly impossible.
Dipper, his twin sister Mabel, and Bill had argued great lengths about cluing the Grunkles in on Dipper's newfound power; but in the end, they decided against it. It was obvious the Stans were keeping secrets and Dipper knew from experience; Stan and Ford wouldn't share the truth until they were forced to. So, naturally the kids would snoop around until they found it or found themselves in a situation that forced their Grunkles to talk.
Bill sighed again, this was killing him, he wanted to be doing something, but at the same time he was afraid. It was his fault Dipper got captured and it was his fault they were constantly in danger. Worse still, Dipper was the one that ended up saving the day, not Bill. Every time he did something he only made things worse. Dipper was always clean up his mess, and last time he almost paid the ultimate price for Bill's arrogant.
Well, no more! Bill sat up, looking more determined now. "Today I will be a new Bill!" He declared as he reached under his bed for his spell-book. "Alright Axolotl I'm ready for a lesson!" He declared opening it up.
"Lesson?" Axolotl yawn. "Young Mason does the lessons." He said curtly.
"I know, but my magic is kind of making Pine Tree all...wonky." Bill said.
"Wonky?" Axolotl perks up, looking interested.
"He has cheek marks now." Bill said.
"Really?" Axolotl looks unphased but adds. "What do they look like?"
"Red crescent moons." Bill answered. "I thought only members of the royal blood have them, and you can only gain them by marrying into the family, but..."
"You think your magic is to blame." Axolotl said the obvious.
"its chaos magic, who's to say it can't have that effect on people." Bill reasoned.
"You're right, Chaos Magic is very rare, and you are the first to have it at its purest form." Axolotl agreed. "Seth's magic was chaotic, but shadows and manipulation were more his style."
"Is there anything we can do to help him?" Bill asked.
"I doubt undoing it will help." Axolotl reasoned. "But as a teacher, it is my purpose to help those understand."
Bill nodded. "I am ready."
"Are you sure?" Axolotl asked. "I do not teach like young Mason does."
"Yes." Bill nods. "Toffee is still out there, and I haven't been able to cast a spell since that night."
"Not surprising." Axolotl said. "You have had a wand for some time, it controlled your power and allowed you to will it with ease. Now that your cane is gone you are back to not being able to release your power on command. Additionally, since you only have half of it, said power doesn't wreak the uncontrollable havoc that required a wand in the first place."
Bill took a moment to take this in. "So, I need to learn a new way to bring my power out on my own."
"Precisely." Axolotl agreed. "Now last chance, sure you don't want-"
"Yes, now let's get on with it already!" Bill snapped, he forgot how annoying the lizard could be.
Axolotl smiled, mischievously. "Okay..." He flicked his tail and the spell-book went flying. "Fetch!"
"What?" Bill looks confused as the book flies out his open door.
"Go get it." Axolotl said like it was obvious. "Well go before it ends up in the enemies clutches."
"You are the worse teacher ever!" Bill yelled as he ran after it.
"I did try to warn you." Axolotl said.
Bill races out of his room and down the hall where he dives after the book. He misses and slams against the ground...hard.
"Bill?" Mabel peaks out from her room as the book flies past. "WHOA...WHAT?"
"Not time, after it!" Bill yells and leads the charge down the stairs with Mabel hot on his heels.
"Bill? Is your Spell-book supposed to be doing that?" Mabel yelled, pointing.
"No, this is what I get for taking lessons from a lizard!" Bill yelled.
WHOOSH
"Dude! What is up with your Spell-book?" Dipper asked as he gets up from the table, he and Ford are neck deep in his studies on ancient magical artifacts.
"Bill, get your spell-book under control." Ford ordered.
"It's not me." Bill yelled.
"No, it's me." Axolotl said appearing on Ford's shoulder.
"You did this?" Ford asked as he watched the magical book bounce around the walls, coming dangerously close to knocking over several framed photos in the process.
"He asked for a lesson." Axolotl said.
"He's asking for lessons now?" Ford looks surprised.
"I tried to tell you Uncle Ford." Dipper said, sitting back down. "Bill can be productive when he wants to be."
"You're not mad he's doing a lesson without you?" Axolotl asked.
"No, why would I be?" Dipper was already getting back into his own work.
Axolotl pokes Ford with his tail and gives him a look.
Ford raises a brow, oh so the magical guide was up to something was he? Ford smiled. "Actually Dipper, why don't you take a break and help Axolotl with Bill, you are more experienced when it comes to teaching him."
"Oh pointers!" Axolotl cheered. "What fun?" He floats over to Dipper who closed his books and sighed.
"Bill, stop chasing it and use your magic, that's the point of the lesson." Dipper suggested.
"Mmm tell the student what he is to learn?" Axolotl looks flabbergasted. "How will he ever learn if you give him all the answers?"
Dipper gives him a look. "Seriously? You didn't tell him what he's learning?"
"Alright I organized the whole lot." Stan said coming in with a box. "This is the last one, hey bro, where did you want the archives?" He yelps, ducking as the Spell-book flew overhead. "What the -"
"Relax Stanley the kids are learning." Ford said. "Everything is under control."
It took only thirty seconds for him to be proven wrong. The Spell-book was completely unpredictable. There was no rhyme or reason to wherever it went. One second, it would be whooshing through the kitchen towards the door. The next, it would spin around and head back towards the den. Finally, it turned around and flew straight back up the stairs!
"After that Spell-book!" Bill said as he and Mabel raced after it to no avail.
"Maybe they needs some help." Axolotl suggested.
"I got it." Dipper groaned as he raced after them.
After another minute or so of trying and failing to catch the Spell-book as it zinged around; the magical tool then zoomed back into Bill's room.
"Please tell me that that's the end of it!" Mabel wheezed as they barged in.
The book stood floating before them.
"Oh good." Dipper caught his breath. "Okay Axolotl, your plan to force us all into this lesson worked." He said.
"So, it did." Axolotl smiles proudly.
"What?" Bill looks outraged and rightfully so. "You did all this to get them in on the lesson."
"Bill, come on, it's kind of obvious." Dipper heaves himself into the room.
"So, obvious." Mabel agreed.
"Okay if it's so obvious." Bill yelled "Than what's next?"
"Oh this." Axolotl smiled and flicked his tail once more.
The book shoots back towards them and abruptly sends Dipper flying back into Bill's opened closet, where he landed with an abrupt thud. Dipper groans and tries to collect himself as the door slams shut in the process. "Really? This is the plan?! Lock Dipper in a closet!"
"Dipper!" he heard Mabel call out to him on the other side of the door. "Are you all right in there?"
"Pine Tree!" Bill yelled. "You stupid lizard, unlock this door, now!"
"Now, now." Axolotl mused. "Pine Tree may give you all the answers, but I am not doing the lesson for you."
"You want us to unlock the door?" Mabel asked.
"Not you my dear." Axolotl said. "Your job is to sit and observe. Ask yourself "How does Bill approach the problem? Is there a better way he could go about it?""
"Oh okay." Mabel sits down at Bill's desk and pulls out paper and a pen to take notes. "Ready!"
"Why does she get the easy lesson?" Bill whined.
"Because Mabel can use magic without a wand." Axolotl said simply. "Now, Dipper is in peril, save him!"
"I wouldn't say I'm in peril." Dipper said. "But this place is messy." He looks around at the piles of stuff. "Why is there so much junk here?"
"It's my junk closet." Bill says as he reaches for the nob and gives it a twist, no luck.
"Now did you really think it would be that easy?" Axolotl laughs.
"You know, I'm beginning to think Bill's hatred for you is validated!" Dipper said.
"Thank you!" Bill yelled. "Finally, someone gets it!"
Suddenly Ford and Stan rush in.
"Great more people to watch me crash and burn." Bill groaned.
"Just here to see the teacher of teachers work." Ford said as he sat down on Bill's bed.
"I'm recording for blackmail." Stan answered honestly, showing of his camera, proudly.
"Teacher of teachers?" Mabel asked ignoring him.
"Of course, the Axolotl was the first to teach the very first spell ever cast, and he has been doing it ever since."
"Wow you're that old?" Mabel was stunned, Bill not so much.
"This is pointless." He yelled. "How does opening a door teach me anything?"
"Bill, try calming down and approaching the situation with strategy. Treat it like a puzzle, you like those." Ford suggested.
Mabel wrote this down in her notes: Approach a situation calmly
Bill wanted to strangle the older man but forced himself to calm down. All he had to do was use magic to unlock and open the door. He waves his hand "Open says me!"
Stan laughs openly. "Okay, I'm not spell master, but even I know that's not a spell."
"I don't use real spells." Bill said. "I make up my own."
"Your magic is weaker now, making your own spells requires a higher level of power you no longer have." Axolotl lectured.
"Seriously!?" Bill groaned.
"It's okay Bill." Dipper tried to coach him. "Just take a deep breath and-"
"Oh no Mr. you are done giving answers." The Axolotl appears before him. "You have your own task."
"What's that?" Dipper asked.
"Why your job is to organize this mess." He gestured around him.
"Pine Tree, don't you dare touch my junk!" Bill warned. "That's where I keep all my...private stuff."
"So, it's a secrets closet?" Mabel asked.
"No, it's a; don't touch closet!"
"Well, if you don't want him touching you better open the door." Axolotl said reappearing before Bill. "The spell you need is Recludo it means to open."
"Is that all?" Bill taunted.
Axolotl pondered for a moment before his face lit up. "Here's a hint: to reach the chunks of the hobo stew, find his secret. That's the clue."
"Why did you say all dramatic like that?" Mabel asked, puzzled.
"Because it sounds cool like that," Axolotl admitted.
"What does stew have to do with opening this dang door?" Bill yelled.
Dipper thought about what Axolotl had said for a few moments. Solving puzzles, riddles, and anything that required him to think happened to be one of his specialties. "So," Dipper began, "you're saying that there's something in here that will get me out and that I have to find it."
Axolotl nodded his head, even though Dipper can't see him.
"So, any reason why my job is to clean this place up?" Dipper asked.
"I told you, in the stew." Axolotl said as if it was obvious. "You're looking for something." He added.
"I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that you're not going to tell me what it is, are you?" Dipper followed up.
"Nope," Axolotl teased. "But trust me, you'll know it when you see it." Dipper looked around he knew he'd have his work cut out for him. "Well, better get started."
"Alright, Bill: just keep your arm nice and steady," Axolotl advised. "And cast the spell."
Bill steadied himself. "Recludo." He said firmly and...NOTHING! "Wow I'm so glad the teacher of teachers decided to teach me this morning."
"You asked." Axolotl reminded him.
Bill picks up a bat and starts hitting the door.
"Hey no braking my shack!" Foard and Stan said in unison.
"This is a magical room I created." Bill reminded them.
"It's still a part of our home." Ford argued.
Axolotl cleared his throat. "Now, look. There are two options that you've got going forward, kid." Axolotl held up his fingers. "You could either, A.) Continue to hitting the door and hope that you can get your buddy out of there without bringing the house down. Orrrrrr...B.) you could just open the door with magic."
"I tried that!" Bill cried.
"Like twice." Mabel reminded him.
"Besides, your spell isn't working and my spellbook is inside the closet, and without it, I can't use magic." Bill said.
Axolotl gasped as his eyes began to widen. "Why, Bill. I'm surprised at you! I thought that someone as cool as you would know about...the hard way."
Bill perked up at those last words. "The hard way?"
Axolotl nodded his head. "The hard way."
Bill got this wild grin on his face as his eyes widened in excitement. "I wanna know the hard way. Show me the hard way!"
Hook, line, and sinker, Ford shook his head.
Dipper laughed as he started going through the junk. Classic Bill, he could never resist a challenge. He was glad Axolotl was starting to realize that there was really only one way to teach Bill.
"Very well, then. I shall teach you about the hard way," Axolotl said as he repressed the urge to smirk. "For the first part of the lesson, you must...get inside my eyeball!" Axolotl then held out his eyelids as wide as he could.
"In your eye?" Bill asked confused.
"Get in my eye, kid!" Axolotl repeated.
"Well, that's not something I'd ever thought I'd hear," Bill said to himself before shrugging it off. "Dipper, I'll be right back. Axolotl's going to show me how to open the door!"
"In his eyeball." Mabel added.
"Okay, then. Just don't be too long!" Dipper's voice called out from inside the closet as he continued organizing everything.
Bill nodded and jumped directly into Axolotl's waiting eyeball. The next thing he knew, he was no longer in his room. Instead, he found himself standing on a small platform that floated in the middle of the vast, purple background. All around him, there were these strange, violet-colored gemstones that twinkled and glimmered like the stars in the night sky. Bill had to admit, it all looked quite beautiful.
"Hey, Bill. You're gonna wanna focus here. Now's not the time for you to be daydreaming," came the voice of Axolotl. Bill then shook his head, reminding himself of his mission: free Dipper from his closet! Once he got his head in the game, Bill then saw that he and Axolotl weren't the only things on the platform. There was also a log for him to sit on, along with this big black cauldron, bubbling and boiling over a blue, otherworldly fire as Axolotl stirred the weird stew inside with a golden spoon.
"Now, Bill. Imagine that the Universe is like this cauldron here," the magical teacher said as he lightly tapped the side of the cauldron. "Now, imagine that the stew bubbling inside of here as all the magical power in the Universe. And lastly, imagine this spoon as being like your cane." Axolotl removed the spoon from the stew and held it up to emphasize his point.
"Now, the spoon isn't that big or long, so it can only skim the surface of the hobo gravy, so watery and brown," he said as he set the spoon aside. "So, if you want to get to the good stuff, the real meaty chunks, then you can't use the spoon." Axolotl's hands grew massive as he put them inside the stew. "If you want to do that, you've got to...dip doooowwwwwnnnn." Axolotl removed his hands from the stew within a moment, revealing them to contain several chunks of meat, a few cut-up vegetables, and even the random bone or two. "You get it?"
Bill stared at Axolotl for a moment, then pondered what he said in his mind. Finally, he spoke. "You lost me."
"It's a riddle." Axolotl said. "Well, that's it. I've already given you all the tools that you'll need. It's up to you to get your brain working and figure out how to solve this problem," Axolotl said.
"So, I'm on my own?" Bill asked.
"Yep," Axolotl told him. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back inside the closet. I need to check up on your little friend's progress, and I need to inspect his predicament without the Stans knowing."
"So that's why he's locked in the closet!" Bill said.
"I gathered you didn't want them to know, and as my master I keep your secrets." Axolotl told him.
"Cool." Bill said as they reappeared in his room. "Dip down, huh?" he wondered aloud.
"Dip down?" Ford looked stunned. "That's a very advanced lesson." He spoke in deep thought. "Doing so means no wand, not even the use of a spell is needed if done correctly."
Bill started pacing, trying to figure out how to dip down. Meanwhile, Axolotl reappears back into Bill's closet.
"Mason, I hope that you've made some-"
Axolotl didn't finish his sentence. He didn't have to. In the short time that he'd been explaining to Bill the basics of "dipping down," Dipper had been at work organizing the closet. In the middle of the room were two piles labeled "secrets" and "not secrets." In each small but growing pile were various items and objects that Dipper managed to find, neatly organizing them to the best of his ability and limited resources.
"Well, this is a surprise," Axolotl admitted as he floated over to the Book of Spells.
"I'm guessing that I need to find something that triggers Bill into opening the door." Dipper said.
"Righto" Axolotl said. "I understand you had a similar experience when Toffee held you captive."
Dipper nodded, not in the least surprised the all-knowing being knew this. "Bill was crying as Toffee made him destroy the cane. I saw his tears, I felt something...snap."
"I see." Axolotl floated around Dipper examining him thoughtfully. "When did your cheeks start glowing with cheek marks?"
"At the field trip, I touched Bill's cane." Dipper said.
"YOU TOUCHED IT!" Axolotl screamed.
"Pine Tree, you better not be touching anything in there!" Bill yelled.
Axolotl chuckled. "Sorry I know, of course, just trying to get him going." He laughs some more.
"What could possibly be in here that he doesn't want me to see?" Dipper asked as he opened up the random treasure chest that he found. Inside, he found, much to his horror, a deformed narwhal with several eyes, a crooked head, and horns protruding out of several points in its point.
"Existence...is...pain." the poor creature said, making Dipper drop the chest. "I always forget how disturbing he is."
"Yes, well evil demon lure had to come from somewhere." Axolotl reasoned.
"So, how did it go with Bill?"
"Oh, yes," Axolotl admitted. "I told him that the only way to open the door is to learn how to use magic without the Spellbook or a wand. Or, as we call it, learning how to dip down." Axolotl couldn't help but smile at the memory.
"Like I did?" Dipper asked.
"Precisely, you Mason are more in tuned with your magic than Bill which is why I allowed you to lead. A mortal like you with such power, I wanted to study you myself."
"Learn anything?" Dipper asked.
"A lot, but what I want to know is what did you learn?" Axolotl asked.
"About what?" Dipper asked.
"Toffee, he took you, do you know why?" Axolotl asked.
"At first, I thought he was using me as bait, but he said he wanted me to resurrect Seth. He called Bill phony. Axolotl, why would he think that?" Dipper asked.
"I do not know." Axolotl looks thoughtful.
"I think he had me mixed up with someone else. Besides Seth is gone." Dipper reasoned.
"Well, Seth is the one that can't be broken." Axolotl reminded him. "If even a slither of him is left he can be brought back."
"But there isn't...Right?" Dipper asked.
Axolotl shrugged. Who can say? Not even I can keep track of every small molecule of a possibly still alive and very dangerous demonic god!"
"He was so sure I was the answer to all his problems." Dipper said. "It's like he saw something more in me, something I couldn't see."
Is that a bad thing?" Axolotl asked.
"I saw something in him too." Dipper shivered. "Something familiar, I can't explain it, but I know it, because...I see it, in myself."
"What you see is darkness." Axolotl explained. "His kind are the purest of demons, the darkest and evilest of the breed. Now why you see such things in yourself, well that is for you to discover."
"Hmm. How do I 'dip down'?" Bill wondered to himself as he sat on the floor of his room, looking at the still-locked door to his secrets closet. "Have you ever dipped down before, Sixer?"
"No, Unfortunately I must admit that the skill is too advanced for me." Ford answered honestly. "You know who would know?"
"Dipper?" Mabel asked, before realizing she slipped up.
"Your brother can cast spells without needing incantations?" Stan looked alarmed, adding to the already growing suspicion that he and Ford knew more than they were letting on.
"Oh no, I thought it meant something else." Mabel said quickly, then looking at an angry Bill She added. "Sorry."
Stan visibly relaxes.
Ford continues. "I was talking about your father Bill, if anyone would know it would be him."
Bill deflated even more, of course it had to be him. Bill wasn't exactly mad at his father, but he was keeping secrets from him! Plus, he was completely obsessed about finding Toffee and Tad and wouldn't let Bill help at all.
"I know you're frustrated with him right now." Ford reasoned. "But he can really help."
"Fine." Bill groan and walked over to his Mirror phone. "Mirror Call Father."
"Calling Father..."
-To Be Continued...