Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls or any of the show's characters

Inspired by: Weirdmageddon Royalty by TheFoggyLondonView

AN: Love the fanfiction that inspired me to write this fic of my own! I highly recommend giving it a try.

Dipper had wandered into the woods against his Grunkle Stan's rule and had promptly gotten lost, hours had gone by and it was getting dark.

Dipper had curled up next to one of the many trees surrounding him on all sides, crying, "I just want to go back home."

"I can help you with that, Pinetree." A male voice said.

Dipper startled before looking around in confusion at the forest's color had disappeared and spotting a yellow triangle being.

"Who are you? Why'd you call me Pinetree?" Dipper asked, curious.

He'd always been told not to speak to people he didn't know, but this wasn't a person. He was a triangle so he could talk to him.

"I'm glad you asked, kid! The name's Bill Cipher! Dream demon extrordinare! And I call you Pinetree because that's where I found you! Underneath a Pinetree!"

"Oh." Dipper said with a blush, "Well, my name is Mason Pines, but I go by Dipper 'cause of my birthmark. Did you say that you can help me get home?"

"I can! But my powers only work if you give me something in return! Don't worry, it won't be too much since you're so young! Let's say, you be my best friend and I get to stay by your side no matter what? Does that sound like a fair exchange for helping you get home?"

"Mhm, that sounds okay! I get to go home and I get a friend! I can't wait to tell Mabel!"

"So— it's a deal then?" Bill asked, extending his hand that was now enveloped in blue flames.

Dipper hesitated before carefully shaking Bill's hand and letting out a relieved sigh when the fire didn't burn him.

Bill clapped his hands together happily, "Excellent! Now let's get you home, Pinetree!"

Bill snapped his fingers and the two of them were no longer in the woods, now sitting on his bed in the attic.

"I'm back! Thank you, Bill!"

"No problem, Pinetree! Now that you're my friend, I can teach you everything I know! You'll become the best of the best! How would you like to learn magic?"

"Magic!" Dipper asked excitedly, "Yes please! I want to learn magic! Can Mabel learn too?"

Bill paused before sighing, "Sorry, Pinetree. Only… special people… can see me. I'm not sure she'll be able to see me, but you can try if you want to. One day she will be able to see me, but it might take years."

Dipper was disappointed, but he decided that he would at least try. If it didn't work then it was okay, Bill said she'd be able to eventually. In the meantime, he could learn how to do magic! Dipper quickly introduced Bill as his friend to his Grunkle Stan and his sister, but neither of them could see him. Throughout the summer, Bill taught Dipper all about the creatures in Gravity Falls and taught him magic. Bill was actually impressed by how quickly his new pawn caught on, the kid was a natural and didn't even need any magical artifacts to help him use magic. Bill was looking forward to the changes that would occur as Dipper continued to use his magic. While Pinetree slept, Bill monitored his great-uncle's work on the portal to get his brother Stanford Pines back and made calculations on how long he had left before Sixer returned.

Bill chuckled to himself softly, he had plenty of time to endear himself to Pinetree and he couldn't wait until Sixer knew how it felt to be betrayed by someone he thought he could trust. Summer quickly ended and the twins were sent back home to their parents. Dipper was excited that his friend could come with him, he would be able to keep learn magic. When they got home, they were given news that changed their entire world. Their parents were getting a divorce and they were being separated from one another. Mabel was going to live with their mom while Dipper was going to live with their dad. Their mom and Mabel remained in California while their dad and Dipper moved to Washington.

Over the years, Mabel and Dipper only ever saw one another during the summer in Gravity Falls. The two of them drifted apart as Mabel, being the peppy extrovert that she was, quickly made quite a few friends. Her mother remarried two years later and her stepfather was a kind man that would always made time for his new daughter. She adored making and wearing her own sweaters, but she quickly decided to learn how to make other types of clothing when her friends asked if she could make them something. She became more interested in fashion and made many of her own outfits, moving on from always wearing sweaters and now wore more fashionable clothing she created. She befriended two girls named Candy and Greta in Gravity Falls, usually deciding to hang out with them rather than with her brother. She found it weird that her brother still had an imaginary friend at their age and she didn't know him as well since they only saw one another during the summer. However, even that time during the summer dwindled until the two pretended they were distant relatives with the same great-uncle and nothing more.

The other kids at Dipper's new school had found him strange and had decided to bully him, but this was quickly nipped in the bud by Bill as he retaliated against the bullies in their dreams. However, this also had the side effect of the other kids distancing themselves even more from Dipper and further isolating him. Dipper threw himself into learning magic and was just glad that at least he had Bill. Dipper was resigned to never connecting with another human outside of his family and, as he grew older, decided that they weren't worth his time anyways. His father, with the help of Bill for the sake of his plan, became quite wealthy and remarried to a very wealthy upper class woman named Patricia Northwest less than a year after his divorce. Dipper was given anything he wished for as long as he met her standards which he'd easily managed to exceed. Dipper was the top of every class and had skipped four grades, already in his third year of high school despite only being 12 years old. He wore the formal outfits his stepmother chose for him without any protest and he learnt many different languages from private tutors. He took private gymnastics lessons and had even begun competing competitively.

His stepmother insisted he called her mother and treated him as her own, feeling as if to were fate that she had gained a perfect son that looked as if he could actually be her biological son. Dipper no longer had brown eyes, his eyes slowly shifting to the same bright blue color Bill's flames had, which coincidently matched her own eye color. She was infertile and had been hiding from high society for over 6 years in fear of them finding out until she'd met Bill. She made a deal with him for a son to call her own in exchange for providing her new son with whatever his heart desires. She quickly married Dipper's father and believed that Dipper's eyes changing to match her own was due to her deal. With the help of Bill's magic, she was able to convince everyone in high society that he was her biological son and she loved bragged about him to her friends. His father changed their last name to his new wife's surname and never revealed that Dipper wasn't his new wife's biological son.

She eventually introduced him to her older brother's family in Gravity Falls and used the fact that he lived in such a small town as an excuse for not seeing him for so long. Her brother disapproved of her choice in husband as, despite being rather wealthy, he was still a commoner. However, he was satisfied that his nephew seems to be overcoming the commoners blood that tainted his father. Due to Mabel practically ignoring her brother's existence and Stan being too busy with the Mystery Shack, he stayed with his mother's family whenever he was sent to Gravity Falls for the summer. He was actually closer to his cousin Pacifica than he was with his own twin, tending to ignore Mabel's existence much like she did to him. His uncle was glad he only really associated with family as he considered the citizens of Gravity Falls to be below them.

"You're a Northwest, Mason. There's no need to befriend commoners." His uncle always told him sternly whenever he asked if he could see the town.

Dipper arrived to Gravity Falls for his summer vacation and his cousin Pacifica immediately pulled him into planning his 13th birthday even though his birthday wasn't until the end of the summer. The two managed to compromise, she could plan his party to her standards and all he asked was that he could choose the color scheme.

Pacifica rolled her eyes, but had a soft smile on her face, "You always pick the same colors every year, Dipper. Blue and white, you're favorite colors."

She only called him by his nickname when they were out of his uncle's hearing range, she was one of the only people who called him that as most people just called him Mason. The only other nickname he had was Pinetree and only Bill could call him that.

Dipper smirked, "What can I say? Those colors look amazing on me."

Pacifica laughed, "Dork. Alright, leave it to me! I'll make sure this birthday party is even better than the last one!"

Dipper hugged her, "I know you will. I'll leave all the planning to you so I'm going to go explore the town while your parents are still a few states away to attend parties."

Pacifica had been allowed to stay behind to keep Dipper company and the two of them would be looked after by the servants. Preston and Priscilla Northwest had been invited to a chain of different parties a few states away and would be away for at least half of the summer. Dipper had always been stopped from venturing into town and had only been allowed to go to certain establishments or the manor. He'd also sneak off to the forest to practice magic, but other than that he hadn't really seen a lot of the town since he was 6 years old and he was curious on whether or not anything had changed. As he walked through the town, he was a bit disappointed that nothing had changed since he last saw the town and decided that he should just go to the forest to practice some more magic instead.

"Dipper?" An older male voice called out.

Dipper turned to see his great-uncle Stan as well as Mabel and her two friends, Candy and Greta. He was a bit confused on why Stan was talking to him, he hadn't spoken or visited the man in years and Stan never tried to get back in contact with him either.

"Hello, great-uncle Stan. Did you need something?" Dipper asked politely, ignoring his sister's presence next to Stan.

"Wow, you've been spending way too much time with the Northwests." Stan muttered before being interrupted by Mabel's friends voices.

"You're related to a Northwest?" Candy and Greta asked Mabel in shock.

Dipper rolled his eyes before answering for her, "She's not. All we share is a great-uncle, nothing else. Great-uncle Stan, why don't we talk another time as you seem busy right now. I'll go to the Mystery Shack to speak to you later in the afternoon so enjoy your trip in town."

Dipper quickly walked away from the group, doing his best to get away from them as quickly as possible without looking like he was running away from them. He headed to the forest and spent his time learning more advanced magic with Bill before he went to the Mystery Shack to speak with Stan. He grimaced when he caught sight of the Pines residence, it wasn't in the best shape and wondered why Stan wouldn't just fix his home. He quickly knocked on the front door and patiently waited until the door opened, revealing Mabel.

Ugh, I'm already regretting coming back to this place.