Chapter 24:The Druid Talks

~Y/N Pov~

Mabel and I had paged through the book while Dipper was sleeping , we took his black-light and scanned the pages for hours (as Mabel had revealed to me that the author of the mysterious journal that he found had written additional information on top of what he had written already but in an invisible type of ink )

We were searching for something...anything...to figure out the mystery of the green lightning as well as a way to cure my dad of his craziness...
That's when we came across something called a Truth Druid.

I looked at the book "These tree-like beings are brutally honest, with knowledge of the inside universe from being alive so long, these beings are centuries old and have protected themselves from predators by disguising themselves as normal tree's,to find one...one must make the tree fear them."

I looked at Mabel.

"How do you scare a tree exactly?"

"I'm not sure...OH WAIT , WENDY!" Mable screamed,startling me.

"Who's Wendy?"

"Wendy ,she's this girl , always has an axe on her...we get the axe then just start swinging it into tree's "

Wow...that was extreme , even by Mabel's standards.

After all we didn't want to hurt the druids we just wanted their help.

"Mabel...that seems a little blood thirsty-"

"Or we can go to Soos and get some TNT and blow them up!"

"Mabel-"

"We want answers ! And if thatcostsblood...or um in their case tree sap I suppose-"

Then I heard rustling and I turned around , the tree behind me started shaking, almost as if an earthquake had hit it while we were talking, the ground started rumbling and the roots burst out from the ground , the branches untangling and contorting until it resembled a face, the leaves scurrying into eyebrows , the branches perfectly aligned resembling facial features .

Roots pushing the tree-trunk body up from the ground-

That's when I realised ,the roots were the legs,the trunk was the body and the branches were contorting into the face.

I couldn't tell if I found it beautiful or painful to watch.

I guess we found the Druid.

"S-S-Stop.H-H-H-Halt human...and...-!"the Druid said with a creepy rasping,pausing and then turning to look at me before continuing.

"-Whatever the h-hell you are" the Druid spat ,emphasising the word "you" with clear disgust and disdain.

What does that mean?

I wonder if it has to do with the lightning thing.

"What do you mea-" I was about to ask but the Druid then decided to so rudely cut me off

"Don't play dumb"the Druid replied ,venomously.

What is this guys problem?

Maybe the axe discussion scared him a bit too much.

Mabel looked at me " Clearly this guy is of no use,maybe we should...leaf him alone."

I laughed and rolled my eyes at Mable's lame pun.

"Don't you dare belittle me ,you puny,pathetic excuse for a mortal"He snapped.
This tree is really getting on my nerves.

"Hey Listen don't get your branches in a twist ,you pathetic excuse for a tree,don't make us get the axe " I said clearly annoyed.

The druid involuntarily shuddered and shrunk back in cowardice and fear.

Wow ,an axe is now my new favorite weapon.

Who knew the fear of one would cause such power and intimidation...and lead to such control-

Wait. What the heck am I thinking?

"It is not the axe I fear...you human. The greatest threat to our existence is you...something which at this moment you pretend to know frighteningly little of..."

It can hear my thoughts.

Pretend to know frighteningly little of?
What is it talking about?

The druid laughed in is raspy voice "You should ask her"he said to Mable ,pointing to me.

Mable looked at me ,just as confused as I was.

"Y/n what is he talking abou-"

The Druid interrupted "You don't belong here ,you're questioning everything...when in reality you know everything...you're the one escaping, the one adapting ,the one..."

Suddenly lightning struck through the sky ,landing at the Druids feet with a sickening CRACK .

I jumped,what the-?

I looked up , the clouds had swarmed over the once clear-blue sky, dark and thundering.

The Druid's mouth curled up in a sly smile "the one...changing...realising..."

What is he talking about?

I heard Mabel mutter something under her breath.

"What was that Mabel?"

She looked straight ahead,almost as if in a trance-like state,then she spoke so clearly "You don't belong here."

"What?''

"You don't belong here" She repeated.

"Mabe-"

"You don't belong here..you don't belong here...you don't belong here''She was repeating the same mantra over and over.

This was creepy.

"Uh...Mabe-"

CRACK.

Another bolt of lightning hit the ground,blinding me for a brief moment ,almost shattering my ear-drums.

I felt my feet give way beneath me and reached out to grab something as I fell .

What was happening?

I managed to grab...a ledge?

I was blinking the spots away, I could here Mabel still repeating her mantra over and over again.I looked below me , there was a huge black chasm, the Earth had opened up and caused a huge crack in the ground and I couldn't see the bottom.

"Mabel help!"I yelled.

"You don't belong here...You don't belong here" I heard more than one voice.

Using all my strength I tried to haul myself up onto the ledge ,it was no use.

I felt the ground start to crumble where my hand was .

. . .

I tried grasping the edge but it was no use.

I felt myself about to fall when a hand grabbed my arm...

A 6-fingered hand.

Yes! Ford!

He hauled me up and I was not prepared for what I saw.

Ford and I were in a circle ,surrounded by the all of the people of Gravity Falls.

When I say all ...I mean everyone.

There was my dad ,Dipper,Lazy susan ,Pacifica and literally everyone I had seen in this town,even people who I haven't met.

All holding hands and chanting the same creepy mantra Mabel was "You do not belong here...You do not belong here...You do not belong here."

Ford looked at me and said "Listen we need to get you somewhere safe , as soon as I say run,you run to the Mystery Shack ,don't look behind you,they aren't themselves right now ,they are going to chase you"

"Okay"I replied.

"RUN!" I ran , not looking back ,the cult-like chanting becoming louder and louder.

They were gaining.

I couldn't distinguish between the thunder and the sound of a herd of footsteps hitting the ground.

Then I heard the familiar,voice of Bill Cipher.

"You don't belong here don't belong here AHAHAHAHAHA."

I kept running, I didn't need to look back.

My feet were aching, I saw Ford surpass me.

The Mystery Shack loomed into view.

They were gaining but I just had to make it to the shack.

My lungs felt like they were being used as a punching bag with every footstep I ran.

What is happening?

Why is this happening?

The Chanting was growing louder and louder.

Every pulse in my body,every painful throb of my muscles ,every heart palpitation,reminding me that I am still alive,embedding me with renowned vigor and determination.

Ford opened the door,then grabbed my arm pulling me inside with him and slamming the door shut.

As soon as we entered there was this big thud as they all went crashing against the outside walls and doors,presumably not Bill as he isn't allowed in the shack due to the spell.

Then the mantra changed to "One of us...one of us...One of us."

What was going on?

Why did it change?

What is happening?

Ford and I didn't have time to contemplate or catch our breaths because at that exact moment ,a brick went flying through the window.

CRASH.

"FOLLOW ME"he said running to the vending machine.

The vending machine?

Ford ...this is no time for a snack.

He must have lost it.

He punched in a code into the vending machine,revealing a hidden door behind it.

Oh now I get it.

CRASH.

BANG.

They were smashing their way into the house and prying the wooden floorboards up with their fingers.

I ran through the doorway after Ford, the vending machine sliding back in place hiding us.

The door led to a basement with a lot of stairs. We ran down all of them to the bottom where I saw...a weird device.

I walked in front of it.

It was in the shape of an upside down triangle from the floor to the ceiling with huge circular hole in the middle of it.

That thing was massive.

Ford pulled a lever and the device whirred to life , a blinding white light filled the room , sparks of electricity flying everywhere ,I turned away ,my back facing the portal...and my face facing Ford...who I now see had a gun pointed to my forehead.

What is happening...

Why is he doing this?

Is Bill controlling him?

No but I thought he was safe because of the metal plate in his head.

He placed his other hand to his temple.
"Y/n I am so sorry, it has to end like this."

I'm panicking.

"Ford what is happening? Why do you have a gun out?"

He laughed.

"It's funny ,you know...that buzzing sound that was in my head that only appeared again after you came to Gravity Falls...it had been slowly driving me insane...I couldn't figure out what it was...until now."

"Ford...what are you..."

"Y/n this town has attracted anomalies,I've spent my entire life studying them...I looked at the footage from Project Mentem, your memory from your little "date" with Bill...I saw what he thought in that moment...Y/n...he seems to be under the impression that you...yourself are a dream-demon."
"What? That's crazy! I'm not-"

"- I know you're not!" Ford snapped.

I grew quiet.

He continued.

"I thought it was crazy too but then I remembered how literally everyone couldn't stop staring at you...it's not because your beautiful y/n...it's because you're like a magnet...you're forcing them to attract...I was unaffected however because of the metal plate in my head, it must have acted as a shield because of the special metal from the Mindscape I had to use."

"You're insane!"

"Am I Y/N, AM I? ...wait I am jumping the gun a bit...then I realised once Bill started chanting and chasing us...along with everybody else...he was affected the same as everyone else...meaning you couldn't be a dream-demon...because the magnetic cult-like attraction wouldn't have affected him..."

I paused.

"Then what am I Ford?"

He breathed in a gasp of air "You are an anomaly, remember the lightning? You don't belong here, your very presence in this place is ripping the fabric of space and time apart...the longer that you are here...the more the other anomalies will grow...the Earth itself will implode...you don't belong here...I'm sorry Y/n but I have to do this...for the sake of my reality...and yours."

" Ford please don-"

He pressed the trigger of the gun .

BANG.

The bullet hitting me straight in the middle of my forehead and the force throwing my entire body backwards through the portal.