Love is a knightmare Chapter 5, a gravity falls fanfic

AN: Hello again. Time for another chapter of Love is a knightmare. Thank you all for the long wait and rest assured, I have a new fanfic almost ready for you all. It's the last Bipifica fanfic I will write but I promise it will be great. Also please check out my work, The Real Nightmare and Town of Horror. Available in most bookstore websites and on kindle. Without further delay, enjoy.

Warning. Chapter contains: Profanity, violence, smoking, gore, and suggestive themes. Reader's discretion is advised.

Chapter 5 Worthiness and worthlessness

Inside the royal castle, Preston was getting ready for bed. His wife, Queen Priscilla, was currently bathing in their luxurious bathtub. Neither of them bothered to speak with their daughter since she was undergoing her punishment. However, something felt off about the evening. Almost like something was missing as Preston decided to ask one of the maids to check on Pacifica. However, before Preston grabbed the nob of the door to his room, everything turned grey…

"Ah…Master William. Do what do I owe the pleasure?" King Preston asked as he turned around to face the demon before him.

"Seems to me my king, that you are holding up your end of the deal…so far…" Bill said.

"Yes. That deal we made 3 years ago is being handled. I thank you for the opportunity to let me take care of the…other races." Preston said with slight disgust.

"I know. You wanted to gather the leaders of the other races that agreed to form an alliance and betray them in a clever disguise of self-defense. Then, you will rally every human living in your kingdom to march upon the dwarf, gnomes, and light elves' kingdoms. Did I miss anything?" Bill asked while juggling small blue flame balls around.

"No, you didn't. When Autumn arrives, the coup will begin in the gnome kingdom. Doing this will show the dark territory that we aren't a threat and they will not need to set foot in our lands while we take from the lesser races, right?" Preston inquired.

"That all will depend on your part of the bargain. You get to take from the gnomes, dwarves, and light elves and the dark territory will not invade you. However, that will only happen once you take care of the certain bloodline that has been a thorn in my side for generations!" Bill shouted.

"The Pines…Don't worry Master, we took care of the wife a few years back and now all we have to do is kill David and his offspring." Preston said with a sinister smile.

"Yes. I'm pleased you remembered. I am also pleased that you sent the boy to the northern woods. I think I will call him Pinetree since he will be cut down soon. There will be worse things than feral animals in those woods for that little lamb. Hahaha!" Bill laughed.

In the northern woods…

Dipper, Elise, and Bovard rushed towards the screams that came from the graveyard. Suddenly, all three of them bared witness to the horrors that was upon them. Zombies rose from the graves and were attacking. Amanda, Candy, Grenda, and Robbie were trying their best to fend off the walking corpses but despite their strikes, the undead didn't stop their assault.

"DON'T JUST STAND THERE! HELP!" Robbie shouted as he tried to protect the injured Tambry whom was unconscious on the ground.

"Go for the heads! That's their only weakness!" Bovard shouted as he ignited a fire ball from his staff and launched it towards a group of zombies that was advancing on their left.

"DIPPER! Keep Elise safe by all means!" Amanda shouted.

"Understood! Stay close behind me Elise." Dipper said as he readied his sword.

"Y-Yeah!" Elise agreed as she nervously huddled behind Dipper.

"DAMN IT! THERE IS NO END TO THESE BASTARDS!" Grenda shouted as she smashed one zombie's head after another.

"Keep the formation!" Candy instructed.

Amanda kept firing her arrows at the zombies but had to shoot carefully so not to waste her whole quiver. However, she noticed Robbie was about to be overwhelmed and fired four arrows at once to take out most of the zombies.

"Thanks!" Robbie said once he realized his flank was saved.

"Be on guard!" Amanda shouted as she went back to firing at other zombies.

"Whatever elf. Would it kill you to just take the gratitude?" Robbie sneered under his breath.

Suddenly, Tambry woke up and stood behind Robbie. He noticed and was overjoyed she was alright despite that nasty bite she got from one of the zombies earlier when all this began…

"Babe! You're alright! Quickly! Grab a sword and help us kill these undead assholes!" Robbie said while turning his attention back to the zombies.

However, without warning, Tambry lunged at Robbie and bit his neck. His screams were as awful as the blood spraying out of his body. Everyone noticed in shock and in horror from what was happening.

"Don't let any of them bite you! You will turn into one of them if you get bit! Kill them! Hurry!" Bovard shouted and everyone went back to fighting.

Dipper was fending off a zombie that managed to bypass the group. He saw a window of opportunity and then cut off the head once his sword was in range.

"Dipper! Watch out!" Elise screamed in fear and Dipper saw the zombie Robbie and Tambry attacking him and Elise.

The zombified Robbie grabbed ahold of Dipper's sword with his mouth and was trying to bite him. Dipper was pushing the sword with his hands to keep Robbie away but it was taking Dipper all he had to keep him at bay. However, the zombie Tambry went after Elise that ran away for her life.

"NO!" Dipper shouted as he fell to the ground and lost his sword.

The zombie Robbie was about to bite Dipper until an arrow hit Robbie in the back of the head killing him. Dipper got up quickly and grabbed his sword.

"Dipper! Save Elise! I'm out of arrows but I can't leave the group!" Amanda shouted while fighting another zombie with her bow.

"Understood!" Dipper responded with haste as he dashed into the dark woods in search of Elise…

Meanwhile, in Piedmont…

Mabel laid in bed unconscious with the book next to her on a nightstand. One of the villagers allowed David and his daughter the use of their home until Mabel could recover. David sat in a chair next to Mabel's bed unable to leave her side right now. Thoughts roamed his mind of everything that happened tonight…

"How did this happen? Why would Mark attack the village and who fed him those lies about withholding his money? He said something about someone betraying him by dying and had something to do with Mabel having the magic tome from our home. Something doesn't add up but for now, we need to heal…" David thought as he lightly grabbed Mabel's hand with worry.

Suddenly, one of the remaining militia members came to the doorway of the room.

"Sorry to intrude Lord David." The militia man said.

"Report." David simply said.

"We lost trace of Mark Douglas in the woods. Out of the twenty militia that fought to defend the village, only eight remain including myself." The militia man said which made David stressed with grief and frustration.

"Furthermore, we discovered the Gleeful family had been murdered and the son, Gideon, is missing. Thankfully, no further casualties have been reported thus far but we are still attending to the wounded and looking for anyone else missing from the village." The militia man said as he concluded his report.

"Very well. Continue to help the remaining townsfolk. It looks like I will have to postpone my trip to the magic academy until we are recovered from this mess." David said holding back his tears as best as he could.

"Yes, my lord." The militia man said with a salute then took his leave.

"Mmm…" Mabel mumbled as she finally awoke from her sleep.

"Mabel! Are you alright!?" David said with worry.

"I'm hungry." Mabel said and David lightly laughed with great relief.

"Very well. I will fetch you some food and we will talk once you feel a little bit better." David said as he got up and left the room.

Mabel simply turned her head and saw the magic book with the number two next to her on the nightstand. She remembered what Bill said to her and how this book was a piece of the puzzle on why he wanted to destroy her family. She needed more answers but for now, she needed rest. That whole fight took a lot out of her. She didn't know that she could use magic like that before tonight but it definitely took its toll. At least now she had a vague idea of her limits but she knew she wouldn't be able to use the book again after tonight. Especially since her father had to sell it to pay the new mercenaries that should be arriving once they receive the notice and agree to the terms.

Back in the northern forest…

"Raaa! Raaa!" The zombie Tambry snarled as it chased Elise further in the forest.

"SOMEONE HELP!" Elise shouted with tears in her eyes.

Suddenly, her foot got caught on a tree root that was arched from the ground and it slightly twisted her ankle as she fell to the ground in pain. The zombie Tambry made a lunge at Elise and was about to bite until Tambry's head got sliced clean in half. Elise opened her terrified eyes and saw Dipper standing over her. She noticed the zombie was killed and knew Dipper must have saved her. Her eyes watered with tears of relief.

"Are you alright Eli-" Dipper started to say until he saw Elise's hood fully off her head, exposing who she truly was the whole time.

"P-Princess Pacifica?!" Dipper said with shock but then was caught off guard by her running up and she grabbed on to him in a tight hug.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to deceive you. I…I just…" Pacifica said as she continued crying.

"We will worry about this later. We have to get back and help the others." Dipper said as he broke her hug.

"Understood." Pacifica simply said as she wiped away her tears and the two rushed back to the others who were still fight off the undead.

Once Dipper and Pacifica got back, they noticed the fighting was over. All the undead were killed and everyone except Robbie and Tambry survived the whole ordeal…

"Dipper! Elise! I'm glad you both are alright." Bovard stated.

"Y-Yeah. We made it. I'm glad you all are safe too." Dipper said as he noticed that Pacifica had her hood back on but also was holding his hand which was making Candy feel a little uncomfortable.

"Elise! I'm so glad you're safe!" Amanda shouted with relief as she rushed over to her.

"Amanda. We need to talk later." Dipper simply said in a hushed voice and she nodded knowing that Dipper found out about Pacifica's disguise.

"So, what now? Are we to return back to the capital?" Grenda asked as she slung her mace covered in zombie grime onto her shoulder.

"Well, I would say yes because we lost some of our security but no…The king's orders are absolute. Returning now in failure would only anger him and we would be severely punished. Furthermore, the safety of the kingdom is paramount. We cannot return emptyhanded. Agreed?" Bovard said and everyone nodded in agreement.

"Good. Also, I also want to find out why undead spawned here. Only a powerful necromancy spell would explain why the dead rose like this. However, to have a spell purposefully delayed like this is unheard of. Unless the caster was nearby, only one individual comes to mind of this type spell…" Bovard said as he began to fret over whom it might have been.

"Do you know, Sir Bovard?" Amanda asked then received Bovard's hesitation before he spoke again.

"…The zombie lord…Decar." Bovard stated which sent chills down everyone's spines.

"…You mean…The ancient tale of the mage that turned necromancer almost a hundred years ago? That even used his magic to rise from the dead to continue his unspeakable horrors?!" Candy said with a quiver in her voice.

"Yes. The one in the same. I was only a young boy when my father told me about him. They both went to the same magic academy but were fields apart. Where my father studied the arcane, Decar was fascinated with the undead. Eventually, he was expelled and banished from the academy for secretly killing and reanimating his fellow classmates. Afterwards, the royal guard arrested him and sentence him to death. However, after he died at the guillotine, it was revealed that he casted a necromancy spell on himself and came back from the dead. He went on a rampage after that and turned nearly half the capital into his undead servants to make his escape. To this day, none has seen the likes of him but the record of his atrocities still remains." Bovard explained.

"But…Do you really think he was behind this?" Dipper asked.

"I'm not sure…But none I know could match this kind of spellcraft and get away with it." Bovard said.

"What do you think could have caused this reanimation to happen?" Amanda asked.

"The only logical conclusion, is that this spell was meant for someone. Unfortunately, both Robbie and Tambry triggered it by coming here. However, I feel like that they weren't the real targets in this madness." Bovard said.

"What makes you think that?" Grenda asked.

"Not sure…But someone in our group has significant reason to be assassinated. Who and why, I couldn't say. However, I doubt they wanted a lowborn commoner like Robbie or Tambry to be their target. Regardless, this isn't the time to speculate. For now, we must continue our mission." Bovard said.

"Very well." Amanda said.

"Daybreak will be here in a few hours. I suggest we all get some rest before we continue." Bovard said and everyone agreed despite what he suggested a moment ago. However, everyone was tired and didn't want to ponder the situation anymore.

Meanwhile in the dark territory…

"Damn it!" Dacar shouted as he sat on his throne which was made of bones in his crypt.

"Something the matter, my lord?" One of Dacar's necromancers asked.

"My undead trap failed! Bill told me I could get that royal wizard as my next lich along with more undead from his party, if I set the trap at the graveyard which they would be traveling by. However, for some reason, they managed to kill my undead thralls!" Decar shouted.

"Well two did die." Bill said as he spawned out of nowhere in blue flame in front of Decar and his fellow necromancers.

"BILL! You lied to me!" Decar shouted as he got up in anger.

"The deal was, they would be yours IF you killed them Decar. It's not my fault your pathetic zombies only managed to kill two of their party. Hahahaha!" Bill laughed.

"YOU DARE MOCK ME!?" Decar shouted.

"OF COURSE I MOCK YOU!" Bill shouted as he grew three times his size, glowed dark red, and burned all the necromancers with blue flames except Decar. Whom backed down and sat on his throne in fear.

Bill went back to normal the approached Decar in a calm fashion…

"If you really wanted to kill them, you wouldn't have sent such half-assed undead to do the job." Bill said.

"I-I understand." Decar said while trembling in fear.

"Good. You know what? I am going to give you one last chance to hold up your end of the deal. Send your best undead to deal with them or kill them yourself. Either way, I want that Pines boy dead!" Bill shouted.

"B-But what does that welp have to do with anything? That wizard is only threat that I've seen and-" Decar said until he heard an unholy growl from Bill.

"You have no idea what his bloodline is capable of! DO WHAT I SAY! OR SUFFER ETERNAL HELL!" Bill shouted demonically before teleporting away in blue flame.

Hours later, in Piedmont…

Morning came and Mabel finally recovered after eating something and then taking a short nap. But now, she was to have the discussion with her father about everything that happened last night…

"I'm glad you feel better now Mabel…But now, I need to know everything…" David said while sitting next to Mabel's bed and listened to the whole story about how she got the book, Gideon's involvement, and the mysterious demon she encountered…

"…I didn't think this would happen…" David said pondering what was told to him.

"Do you know this demon, Dad?" Mabel asked.

"I have a vague suspicion but dared not say because I thought it would be impossible." David said.

"What do you mean?" Mabel asked and saw her father get up from the chair that was next to her bedside and walked to the window.

When he opened it, the morning sun lit up the room and her father took out a tobacco pipe and lit it with a match. The hesitation he gave was a little unnerving to Mabel to say the least. However, when he took a break from smoking, he spoke…

"William B. Cipher…A mad demon that first, came through dreams. But that didn't satisfy him and he wanted freedom from his dreamscape. My father and his brothers, my uncles, were in a party. The three brothers, were strong in their own right… But when one of my uncles, Stanford, made a spell that was intended for teleporting large distances, it went awry. The spell opened a portal to the demon world and Bill took it upon himself to use this to fully manifest into our world." David began to explain.

"So, my great uncle was the magic user of the party…But I thought you said he was the court wizard?" Mabel asked.

"…That was your other great uncle, Stanley. He was given two of the three books after Stanford's sacrifice." David said.

"What do you mean?" Mabel asked and David continued the tale.

"When Bill fully came into our world, Stanford used a binding spell to chain the demon to his soul. He then gave the two of his books to Stanley and used the third book for a banishing spell to send the demon and himself away for good…or so I thought." David said.

"Why did he do that to himself? Wasn't there another way?" Mabel asked.

"According to my father, no. A demon of that caliber needed to be bound first to a strong enough soul to be casted back to the world which he was summoned from. However, my uncle's sacrifice was in vain. Because it seems…Bill has returned." David said.

"So, what happened to Grandfather and Great-Uncle Stanley?" Mabel asked.

"My father returned to our home and became its regional lord for the kingdom. While, Uncle Stan became the court wizard with his brother's knowledge. However, he became ill and eventually died. The two books were given to my father and then were given to me along with my title and the whole story behind our history…Mabel…Now that I told you everything, you need to decide." David said as he approached his daughter with a stern look.

"Decide?" Mabel inquired.

"Do you want to continue this fight, after finding out everything? Or do you want to try to run? I will do everything in my power to protect you. However, I'm not a magic user. So, fighting a demon isn't possible for me…" David said and Mabel sat in her bed lost in deep thought about the situation…

"I won't run." Mabel decided.

"Very well. It might take a while but once we raised enough money I will-" David said until someone knocked frantically from the door.

"SIR! We have something you need to see!" One of the militia said from the door.

David and Mabel got out of the house and went to the Gleeful residence where the militia guided them. Once they arrived, they all went inside and down into a secret cellar which David had no knowledge of. When the door was opened, both David and Mabel saw a vast amount of money which was stored inside…

"Wh-What is this!?" Mabel asked in astoundment.

"…If I had to guess. Bud had been taking and stashing the village's profits over the years. To think, we had to suffer and experience all this loss because of the man's greed." David said getting angry but then calmed himself down because there was nothing to do about it now since the whole Gleeful family was dead.

"Listen up!" David said and the militia soldier paid attention.

"Gather the whole village together, or at least the ones that can attend. They need to know what happened, what caused this, and where we go from here." David ordered and the soldier agreed with a salute then left quickly.

"Are we going to tell them about Bill?" Mabel asked once she was alone with her father.

"Not fully, no. But we are going to explain some important news that has come to light." David said which made Mabe a little confused but followed her father as the left the cellar and ventured to the town's square to speak with the townsfolk.

Back in the northern woods…

Dipper and the rest of the group awoke when morning came. Everyone was still exhausted, especially Pacifica since she didn't experience this kind of life growing up, but managed to ready themselves for the day ahead of them. Everyone was either eating their breakfast, packing up their belongings, or checking over their equipment. Amanda then called out to Dipper, whom was packing up the last of his stuff, to follow her for firewood to carry on their journey in case they needed dry wood to burn. However, in all actuality she wanted to get their talk out of the way and from the others to hear…

"So, I am just going to take a shot in the dark and assume you know Elise's secret?" Amanda asked.

"Yes. Why is the princess here with us?" Dipper questioned.

"It happened before we left the capital. She approached me after she escaped her parents' castle. She was in disguise of course but I knew who she was. She wanted to make sure you survive and help any way she could. However, it seems that kind of backfired since she is the one that needs protecting." Amanda said.

"But why didn't you return her home before the start of the mission? You know what kind of dangers are in the woods and what our mission was. So, why put her at risk!?" Dipper demanded.

"Because she likes you!" Amanda nearly shouted in order to quiet him down.

"W-What?..." Dipper said dumbfounded.

"Listen. She's had enough of her parents' cruelty and control over everything. Yes, they are the king and queen of the kingdom of Gravity Falls. However, over the years she noticed how little they actually cared about the people and would eliminate anyone they see as a threat. That's why she is here. To defy them. As far as you are concern, she seen how far you are willing to go. Not just for your family but your own people's sake by sacrificing yourself to serve and protect those you care about…She wanted to follow your example." Amanda explained which left Dipper speechless for a couple of minutes.

"So…What are we going to do now?" Dipper asked.

"We continue the mission. Once it's done, she will return home. Make no mistake, she knows she will face severe punishment…But she's accepted that. After learning that her father won't stop until you have died, she is committed to fight for you in any way she can." Amanda said.

"…I promise to help her in return." Dipper said feeling somewhat responsible for all this.

"I know she will be counting on your help in the future. For now, let's just get back before the other's get suspicious." Amanda said as she picked up her plie of wood and Dipper did the same.

Once they got back, they finished up the last of the preparations to leave and then, they finally continued their journey to the northern farmlands. Dipper noticed Elise, a.k.a. Pacifica, was struggling with her heavy bag and Dipper took it upon himself to switch his lighter weight bag with hers to make it easier.

"Thank you." Elise said with a smile.

"No problem." Dipper responded back with his own smile but Candy saw in slight irritation.

Hours passed and finally the group reached the end of the forest and the group sighed with relief that what they believed to be the dangerous part of their journey was over. With nothing but grassland plains as far as the eye could see.

"Don't get too comfortable everyone. Yes, we reached the end of the forest quicker than I anticipated. However, there is still the threat of bandits or even the rumored werewolves that attacked the farmlands to contend with. So don't let your guard down." Bovard ordered.

"Understood." Dipper, Candy, Grenda, Amanda, and Elise said in unison.

"Before we go any further, I need to give you all something." Amanda spoke up which got the attention of everyone.

She then pulled out multiple vials of mysterious liquid from Elise's bag which Dipper had been carrying. She then gave everyone the same looking vial except Bovard since his looked different…

"Elise made those with pure silver to combat any potential werewolves we might encounter. Sir Bovard's vial, contains a silver proficiency potion which he can drink to add silver to his spells in case he needs to fight as well." Amanda explained so Elise didn't have to speak.

"Oh nice!" Grenda shouted.

"This will help. Thank you." Candy said.

"Yes, thank you…Elise." Dipper said as he remembered to use her alias to maintain Pacifica's disguise.

She hid her face as well as she could but a small blush formed on her face when Dipper thanked her. Dipper, Grenda, and Candy were instructed to use their liquid silver on their weapons when fighting werewolves. Silver is the greatest weakness to werewolves since it acts as a deadly poison but doesn't last long once poured, so Dipper and the others were warned to only use it when they had no choice…

Back in the village of Piedmont…

The villagers all gathered in the square where the regional lord, David, was going to address them. As he looked, his heart sank seeing the number of the population was reduced from the attack last night. Some were killed, others were gravely injured and were still at the medical doctor's house, and still a few were missing. He then surmised, that the ones missing either fled during the attack or left the village afterwards due to the lack of faith that David would protect them. Regardless, David had no choice but to accept the outcome and try to move forward…

"Villagers of Piedmont…I'm disheartened by the loss we experienced during the attack last night. However, thanks to all your effort, we've survived. I discovered that the boy Gideon, of the Gleeful household, was to blame for turning our former mercenaries against us. He killed his parents, stashed our funds, and tried to take my daughter away in this whole ordeal… However, his plans had failed. Though I know not where he is, my assumption is he is dead or soon to be. Unfortunately, Mark Douglas has escaped during the turmoil and is still at large but isn't as a threat as he used to be thanks to Mabel's efforts to rid him of his men!" David shouted and the crowd cheered which made Mabel smile as she felt like a hero now.

"Furthermore, with the newly discovered funds that the Gleeful family hid from us, I planned on helping the rebuild and healing of the village but not only that! The new mercenaries I petitioned will be paid for in full to ensure this never happens again and we will be better protected." David announced and everyone clapped in approval.

"…With that said. I wanted to award my daughter for her courageous actions." David said as pulled out a bag and a handful of coins which he then put in the bag.

"I want to pay for my daughter's tuition at the magic academy, to further her knowledge of magic and to help our village be better protected under a stronger future leader. Any of you that wish the same, please spare your coin in this pursuit." David said and everyone eagerly gave what money they could to this cause.

Mabel was overwhelmed by the love, trust, and respect everyone showed her that it moved her to tears. Never in her life did she think she would become a magic user and now, with everyone's help, she will…

TO BE CONTINUED…

AN: Again, I am so sorry for the wait. Please leave good reviews and I hope to write for you all again.