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ibelieveinahappilyeverafter · 6 years ago

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Fallen Stars (Aren’t The Only Ones On Fire)

Title: Fallen Stars (Aren’t The Only Ones On Fire)

Fandom: Gravity Falls

Alternate Universe: Pre/Early Show, Non-Demon Bill Cipher

Pairing: None, but can be read as pre-BillDip

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: None

Inspired By: Tumblr Prompt issued by anonymous on October 4th, 2014 - “Httyd inspired au. Bill is a magical talking dragon that Dipper befriends. Shenanigans happen.”

Summary: Dipper is just settling in to Gravity Falls for the summer when he decides to explore the woods and promptly gets himself lost. While he knew Gravity Falls could be strange, he hadn’t been expecting anything like this.

Author’s Comments: So, it’s not really HTTYD inspired anymore, but I hope you enjoy the magical talking dragon Bill, nonetheless! If you’re still on tumblr, of course… (I originally made this joke to show how old the prompt was, but now with the purge going on… Yikes.)

Read here on FFN Read here on AO3

Don’t forget I’m doing more cool things on my Patreon all the time! I also have Ko-Fi, so if you enjoyed this story, then consider buying me a coffee!

“Okay. Take a deep breath, Dipper. You’re fine.” Unsurprisingly, saying these words did not, in fact, make Dipper fine. If anything, it made him even worse. Hearing his voice, alone and quiet and far too small, made the forest around him seem even worse. “It’s not like you’re lost or anything, after all!”

At least, it would be nice to say he wasn’t lost, except at one point all the trees had started looking the same as everything else and Dipper couldn’t even begin to guess which way was out. Whatever path he had been walking on had long ago disappeared. “Right. Okay, great, yeah, right, I’m just going to become a statistic. I’m going to be a statistic and not even a fun one. I’ll just be what not to do when you get lost in the forest, a lesson by the dead Dipper Pines.”

Right, okay, speaking was definitely making it worse. His voice didn’t even echo when he was this deep into the woods. It was like every forest nightmare he had ever had from the time he was born. Right. Right, okay. He just had to keep calm.

“I’ve only been walking for an hour, anyways, so it’s not like I could have gotten that far.” See, alright, talking to himself made Dipper even more afraid, but staying silent was worse. It was… It was quiet in these woods - empty. He knew he was kind of a city boy, but woods like these shouldn’t be quiet.

The trees seemed taller than the Redwood forest he and his family had visited a few years ago, which, yeah, didn’t think that was possible. There they were, though. They were tall enough that an entire secret civilization could probably be hidden among the branches and watching, and Dipper wouldn’t even know it.

Ah, okay, bad thought, that was a bad thought, now he was thinking about the fact he might be about to die. “So, uh, if anyone’s there? I’m just trying to get out, okay! Just wanted to let you know that! Trust me, if I knew which way to go- Ah! Compass!”

Of course he had a compass, duh. His parents wouldn’t let him leave the house for this summer trip until he had packed everything to survive in the woods, never mind the fact that they were just going to stay with their great-uncle in his tourist trap. Still, Dipper was grateful for it now as he dug around for the compass and clicked it open.

“Okay, okay, okay, so, uh, the Mystery Shack is… north?” Dipper was pretty sure he had gone south into the woods. Actually, that might have been wrong. He might have gone north. He wasn’t certain, but he could at least finally pick a direction and stick with it. He’d eventually find a road or the Mystery Shack at some point.

Waiting for the compass needle to stop spinning, Dipper swallowed and shuffled nervously as that oppressive silence pressed down around him. It felt like something was watching him, but it had been silent for what felt like hours. He had only been walking for an hour, right?

“Come on, come on, come on, just tell me which way to go, already.” The compass needle was still spinning. It didn’t even waver, it just kept spinning around and around as if it couldn’t tell which direction was which, but that was impossible. The only time a compass could act like this was when someone was right over one of the poles. Dipper was in Gravity Falls, Oregon. Nothing interesting happened in Oregon!

“My compass is broken. Great. I’m lost in the woods with a broken compass.” Taking a moment to try and steady his breathing, Dipper shivered as he shoved his hands in his pockets and started moving in what he hoped was the way out. It was starting to get freezing. He knew it was still afternoon and everything, but it felt cold with all the trees that were blocking the sun out.

“If something wants to eat me, maybe please consider not doing that.” The call was half-hearted at best, Dipper not sure if he was tired and afraid or just tired. It was hard to keep getting scared when he hadn’t seen anything since he stepped into the woods.

He was just starting to think of yelling at the top of his lungs until a park ranger or someone found him, but just as he opened his mouth, he heard the sound of a snapping branch from behind him.

It felt like a bucket of ice water had been poured over him as Dipper’s body went rigid, shivers running down his spine and making his entire body shake as he tried to gather the courage to at least look to see what was about to kill him. The courage didn’t come, and Dipper felt like he was shaking to pieces as his breathing turned quick enough that he was afraid of triggering an asthma attack.

The woods in front of him were completely empty with nothing but a ground full of dead, decaying leaves and dry dirt that hadn’t seen rain in weeks. The canopy of leaves kept the sun from ever touching him, and Dipper could only occasionally see flashes of sunlight flickering across the forest floor. With how dark it was, it was like the world had been plunged into a colorless, black-and-white place that was filled with shades of grey.

“Dipper.” Body unfreezing all at once, Dipper spun around and almost lost his balance as leaves were kicked up around him. Heart racing, Dipper was ready to stare death straight in the eyes and at least try not to scream. This was it and this was how it was going to end, and Dipper was about to… be alone?

There was nothing. He spun around the entire area, but there was absolutely nothing there no matter how hard he looked. “He… Hello?” Silence was the only thing to greet him and Dipper took a hesitant step back- Or maybe he took a hesitant step forward? “Is anyone there?”

This forest wasn’t normal. He had said from the beginning that Gravity Falls wasn’t a normal kind of town, but this deep in the woods and it was- It was wrong. It felt wrong and terrifying and old. The trees didn’t look like something that should have been there and the more Dipper walked, the more it felt like the trees were different. It definitely felt older, here. It felt like the trees around him had been there longer than Dipper would ever live.

“So, I’m just going to go, now? Sorry, uh, ancient and possibly evil spirits?” There. That would appease whatever had just been behind him, right?

“Dipper.” Oh, aha, nope, no, it wouldn’t! It definitely wouldn’t! “What a curious name.” Okay, yeah, no, nope, aha, definitely not just in his head anymore.

“I, um, it’s a nickname?” He was talking to the evil ancient spirit that roamed the woods he was lost in. Why was he talking to the evil ancient spirit? Oh, that was right. Dipper was an idiot. “You know. The Big Dipper? The constellation?”

“Oh?” There was a sound behind him that had Dipper turning quickly, his breath trapped in his lungs and swirling around his chest with nothing but fear as he saw only a quick flash of gold. “Why is a little star lost in my woods?’

“I, ah, um, I was exploring?” He had definitely seen something gold, just now, but maybe it was just sunlight? He’d like to believe that, at least, but everything really did look colorless, now. He couldn’t even tell what color the leaves were that were no doubt hundreds of feet above his head. “I didn’t mean to intrude or trespass or anything like that.”

“So much politeness for a human.” That was… good? “Maybe I shouldn’t eat you, just yet.” Yep, yeah, definitely good- Spinning around at what sounded like something being dragged across the leaves, Dipper swallowed as he yet again saw nothing but a flash of gold.

“I would really like to not be eaten, if that helps? Please? I mean, I’m only twelve and I’m kind of small, so it’s not like you’d get much out of me, right?”

“On the contrary, little star. I think I could have a great deal of fun with you.” Oh, Jesus, Dipper wasn’t sure he had ever been more scared in his life. It felt like his body wanted to shake itself apart and he was honestly not even aware of whatever it was he was saying. He could probably sell his soul right now and not even realize it. “Perhaps there’s a reason you became lost in my woods.”

“Your-” The rest of his words died in his throat, Dipper turning around and falling completely still as he stared at what could only ever be called a dragon.

“Hello, Dipper.” The words were hissed into the air like the steam of a furnace and Dipper felt his knees shake before he hit the ground and this… This was going to be hard to explain when Stan and Mabel asked him why he was late to dinner.

#gravity falls #billdip #bill cipher #dipper pines #otpafs

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ibelieveinahappilyeverafter · 7 years ago

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deCIPHER

Bonjour, mes chers! Quite a bit late due to being distracted by that terrible eye surgery of mine, but here’s the first released drabble that was my Patreon Exclusive drabble last month!

Consider supporting me to see more stories like this one! $97/100 down for the podfic goal!

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Title: DeCIPHER

Alternate Universe: Post Show / Dipper age ~16

Rating: G+

Inspired By: deCIPHER - Madame Macabre

Summary: Dipper is sixteen and the mess that was Bill Cipher was supposed to have been left behind and yet, here he was, hearing that voice in his head. It would be fine and easy to ignore if Bill Cipher wasn't so good at telling the truth.

"Come on, kid, I know you can hear me." Taking a steadying breath, Dipper firmly ignored the words, staring at the board and trying to focus on using the square root completion method to solve quadratic equations. It was getting harder. "Hey, kid, I know you can see me."

Biting the inside of his cheek, Dipper refused to look at the golden glow that drifted by his vision, instead sliding his gaze over to where his sister was sitting at her own desk and taking notes in gel pens. She didn't seem to have any worries and wasn't looking towards the gold at all. "Don't be jealous, Pine Tree. You're the only one who can see me."

Just pretend he wasn't there. He just had to pretend he wasn't there. It had been three years since that summer in Gravity Falls. Dipper was now sixteen, Gravity Falls was completely normal (at least for Gravity Falls it was normal), and he was still nothing but stone. Whatever Dipper was seeing, it was probably just stress brought on by a new school year.

"Piiine Tree. I know you're not an idiot." Dipper could feel the cool touch against his cheek, but he did his best to not flinch and instead looked resolutely at the board. "You can feel it. You're probably the only one in your family that can, thinking on it. I bet not even Shooting Star is feeling it like you do."

Yes, just a normal mental breakdown. That sounded about right, honestly. He had been due for one of those for a while now, so he was sure it would all be back to normal in the next few months. "Hey, kid, things are 'bout to get crazy."

"Ma'am, may I go to the bathroom!" Ignoring the odd looks thrown his way, Dipper waited only long enough to get a hall pass before he was speeding out of the classroom and straight towards the bathroom, throwing cold water on his face as soon as he could. Maybe this was a dream. It would make sense for it to be a dream, right?

"Aha, nice thinking, kid! Shock to wake you up, right? Maybe you should try jumping, next. I heard you can't jump in a dream!"

Bracing himself on the sink, Dipper looked up into the mirror. The only reflection was him, but there, just out of the corner of his eye, was the creature that he still had nightmares about. Maybe this was just another one of them.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry for trying to kill your family and take over the world. There, are you happy?" Definitely a dream. "Right, you just sit right there and listen to me then. As I was saying before you ran off, things are about to get pretty crazy for you humans! You felt it, after all, didn't you?"

Felt what? Life was always crazy! Dipper had thought that Gravity Falls was the only place to attract the weird, but the weird was everywhere in the world. He had seen some pretty strange creatures just here in Piedmont, although granted they were harder to track down and even harder to see.

"Oh, kid, I ain't talking about those run-of-the-mill gnomes you see every summer! I've seen more than you can imagine, kid, and this is going to beat it all." Okay, right, Dipper would just go and trust the liar. That would be great.

Running his hands under the water some more, Dipper shook his head as if trying to dislodge the demon from his mind entirely. That would work, right? "Yeesh, you're so stubborn. C'mon, Pine Tree, you're the only one who can hear me! You've felt it, I know you have. It's there every time you go down one of those kitchy suburban streets of yours."

Kitchy? He was eighty percent sure that was just another word for cheesy and he was a hundred percent sure he only knew that because of Mabel- Ninety-nine percent. It could've come from Soos. "You feel it, don't you? Warm summer day, the air's all hot and sticky, you're walking down the street, all the cars are gone, you hear those stupid bugs, and that haze that comes down… That's not a normal haze, Pine Tree."

Don't listen. He was a liar. A conman. A thief. A poet. A psychic. A thaumaturge. He would only tell Dipper what he wanted to hear and what he already knew. Except… Except Dipper hadn't had the words to explain that feeling until now.

There were no words to explain the feeling he had when he had just been walking around their block after they had gotten home and it had still been so hot. Dipper was sweating and huffing for breath even as he smiled at being home, thoughts and heart still full of Gravity Falls. He had wandered into the middle of the road because, well, because it was empty. There was no one in sight and his mind was still full of Gravity Falls where people walked in the road all the time.

He had walked straight down the middle and he remembered the sweat dripping down the back of his neck. A dog had been barking a few streets over and one of those sprinklers to water the lawn had been going. It was a scene straight from a movie or something, but Dipper had felt this sense of…

The haze had felt like a physical presence against him, the heat powerful and strong and his breathing the only sound that seemed to matter in that moment. He had stopped in his steps and just breathed and felt something. It was like a missed step. Something that should have been there but wasn't and the realization sent the mind reeling.

"I've heard things that could torture your soul to that hell of yours and back, kid, but that sound is something that beats even me." The sound of something big. Something massive in a space where there should have been nothing. "Come on, Pine Tree. If you join me then we can both get ahead in what's about to happen. We'll be on top of it all and ready for what's going to come."

Yeah. At what price? Pushing himself off the sink, Dipper spun around and stared straight into the single eye of Bill Cipher.

"Go to hell." Instead of being taken aback, the demon looked nothing but pleased. "Go to hell." After everything he had done- He thought it would be that easy?

"So you can hear me, then." Meeting Bill's gaze, Dipper didn't draw back as the demon floated closer. "Oh, you're going to be something else, kid."

Just like that, Bill Cipher was gone and Dipper was alone in his head. Thrown off balance, Dipper spun around, expecting to see gold and black and instead seeing nothing but a high school bathroom. It… It had been that easy? That- It couldn't have been that easy. Could it have?

Shaking his head again, Dipper took a breath before leaving. He had a math class to get to and he needed to tell… No. Not yet. It had probably been a one time hallucination due to stress. He didn't need to tell anyone.

He was fine.

"I told you, Pine Tree, something big is coming." Twitching at the words, Dipper forced himself to not look up, instead staring down at the research he was doing instead of homework. The supernatural side of Piedmont had been growing in the last few weeks - well, maybe not growing, but there were more wild stories in the news than there should be. It was probably just some eclipse coming up or something. At least, he had thought that. "They all sense it too, that's why they're getting so restless."

"What, exactly, are they supposed to be sensing?" Okay, Dipper hadn't quite meant to actually acknowledge and talk to Bill, but, well. The demon was good at getting under his skin. "Nothing in my research-"

"Pine Tree, you're thinking too much like old six fingers! This isn't something you can just read about. You have to feel it." Yeah, well, he was pretty sure the only thing he was feeling was that fifth brownie he had. In his defense, Mabel had made them with chocolate chips this time. "You really think those three books were the biggest mystery in the world? You think this dimension is the only one?"

Well- Of course not. Ford had told Dipper all about his crazy adventures in the other dimensions. Dipper had seen the creatures from the other dimensions! He knew there was more to all of this than just what was here in their world, but he didn't see- "You think this dimension is without magic?"

That… "Oh, Pine Tree. You raised the dead when you were a child and united a town to fight against demons. If you hadn't ruined my plans then I might have been almost proud! The thing is, though, is that you didn't quite ruin all my plans-"

"You're a stone statue in the middle of the woods where no one can ever find you. If you still think you won then I have some news for you." Snapping his book shut, Dipper climbed out of his piles of books and papers before grabbing his shoes and jacket. A walk sounded great right about now.

"Pine Tree, I can help you! Really, I'm impressed with how far you've come, and you seem to the be the best bet to fight off what's about to happen to your little dimension." Ignore him, Dipper, just ignore him. "It's been such a long time since the magic left."

"First you tell me magic is real and now you're telling me it left- It's one or the other, Bill!" Ignore him, ignore him, just ignore him. "Just leave me alone!"

Getting out onto the night streets, Dipper walked as fast as he could, breathing in cool fall air and feeling himself start to relax. "Pine Tree!" Well, there went that. "I'm offering you everything you ever wanted!"

"Yeah, funny, but I've heard that before!" A blur of everything and Bill was suddenly in front of him, Dipper trying not to show his fear as he saw red instead of gold for a moment. "Go bother someone else."

"Trust me, kid, I would if I could." Great. His luck to be forever stuck with a demon in his head. "Kid, if you side with me then you could have everything!"

"Mm, no thanks. Doesn't really sound like something I'm interested in." Walking past him, Dipper looked up at the night sky and shivered.

"You can sense it coming."

"It's fall and night. I'm just cold."

It had been weeks since Dipper last saw Bill and as much as he tried to put the words out of his head… Something was coming. Whatever it was, it was enough to make Bill afraid. That couldn't be good for them.

"It's night, of course I'm a bit cold. It's September!" Dipper kept walking, trying to keep his breathing under control. "It's just the weather. Just like it was in summer. It's nothing but the weather."

"Just keep thinking on my words, Pine Tree." Yeah, right. That was all Bill could do was put words in his head. Dipper would be better off forgetting them as quickly as he could. He would just forget them.

Simple.

"You really shouldn't let go of this opportunity, Pine Tree. It won't last for very much longer." Staring out the snow covered forest of Gravity Falls, Dipper absently listened to his family laughing and partying down on the first floor of the Shack. "All you have to do is shake my hand - my real one - and we can both deal with what's about to come."

"Been a while since you brought this up." Ever since that autumn night, Bill had completely dropped his menacing comments and had instead made sarcastic remarks at school and sometimes helped him with his homework. Sometimes. Usually he cost Dipper a letter grade. "Is it because I go back tomorrow."

"Next summer will be too late. I could spend the next few months convincing you, but by then we'd both be out of time." Rolling his eyes, Dipper looked to the floating demon that was hovering over his shoulder, gaze out the window as well. "If that statue is destroyed, then I'll never be able to come back."

"Oh, no." Smirking as the slap phased through him completely, Dipper looked back out the window. "Guess that means we'd be stuck together a while longer, then-"

"No, kid, I'd never be able to come back." Oh.

"Well, good, then. You tried to destroy the earth." He also made funny comments about the teachers Dipper hated, though. "You almost killed my family." He helped Dipper with his math homework when he forgot how to clear the fractions out of a problem. "You were almost the reason Stan lost his memory." Dipper hadn't had a nightmare in months.

"Eh, it turned out alright in the end." God, no amount of 'human' gestures could ever redeem what Dipper was talking to now. This was a demon, plain and simple. There was no reason to feel guilt or pity. "What if I change the deal?"

"Nothing you say could ever make me release you, Bill. Just drop it." Standing up, Dipper stopped with his hand on the door when he heard the next words spoken into his mind.

"If you agree to work with me to face what's coming, then after it's all over I'll return to being stone and stay out of the thoughts of you and all your friends and family for the rest of eternity."

"You said I'm the only one you can talk to. Unless you were lying, then you'll never be able to trick someone else into setting you free-"

"I wouldn't be able to if I was dead, either." To face what was coming… Dipper could feel it. Something in the air was different and the tenuous peace between normal and weird was about to shatter. "Come on, Pine Tree, be smart about this… You know you've always been different. All those wild hunches and theories of yours back in that first summer? They were all right."

They… They had been, hadn't they? Dipper had been right about all of it. Some of it had surprised him, yeah, but he knew from the start that there had been something lurking in those woods. He had been right. "You were right from the start, Pine Tree. Don't start being wrong now."

Not responding, Dipper was quiet as could be as he walked through the Shack, passing by the den and instead donning a coat as he slipped out into the cold air and falling snow. Taking a shuddering breath, Dipper shivered as he felt that pressure that had been growing since summer.

The two were silent as they set off through the woods, Dipper refusing to speak first as he trudged through snow and stumbled over fallen trees. He knew where to go - he made sure to always remember where he was.

Dipper was half uncertain as to what he would even do once he was there, but he didn't stop until he stumbled upon a picturesque clearing with a familiar stone statue covered in a fresh layer of snow. The area around was completely untouched and Dipper felt like he would be disturbing something if he were to take a single step forward.

"You can't ever hurt them. You can hurt them ever or the deal's off and you go back to being a statute immediately." Silence. There was no trying to argue or twist the words around. "A-And it's only until this threat or whatever is dealt with. Once it's not a threat, that's it, you go back in the stone."

Dipper took a shaky step forward when he heard nothing yet again. He paused in his steps for a moment, shaking fiercely. He shouldn't do this. It didn't matter how great the danger was, he shouldn't be doing this. He stepped forward.

"If you get a physical form back then you can't use it to hurt anyone unless they really deserve it - like they've physically hurt or killed another person deserved it. You can't be seen by anyone in my family and you can't tell them what I did." Dipper was rambling off everything he could think of, trying to close each and every loophole he could. "Got it? You can't use this as revenge or another chance to destroy this town or anything else in any of the worlds or dimensions. You're just here to help protect them."

"Well, what are you waiting for, Pine Tree? Shake my hand." Wrong. Dipper had such a strong feeling of wrongness. He knew he was being played. This had to be Bill's plan from the start. It was a plan to get him out and there probably was no danger and since there wasn't that meant Bill could get out of the deal and he would be physical and for them to work together, it-

"Don't worry, Pine Tree. They won't see it coming." The stone was warm beneath his touch and Dipper felt like he had just damned them all with the laughter he heard. Laughter that bounced off the trees and was as real as his breathing.

What had he done?

#gravity falls #bill cipher #decipher #dipper pines #otpafs

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ibelieveinahappilyeverafter · 6 years ago

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Deal

Bonjour, mes chers! I was cleaning up some files and it seems I never uploaded this drabble? It's possible I have it uploaded somewhere and just can't find it, so enjoy it again if that's the case!

Title: Deal

Alternate Universe: None / Post Canon (Age of Twins ~ 16/17)

Rating: T (for mentions of blood and temporary major character death)

Warnings: Mentions of blood, physical trauma, and temporary major character death

Inspired By: I have no idea, I just found it in my google drive when cleaning

Summary: Dipper should know better than to ever make deals with a demon such as him. Still, family is always more important, isn’t it?

Read here on FFN Read here on AO3

Don’t forget I’m doing more cool things on my Patreon all the time! I also have a Ko-Fi so consider buying me a coffee if you can’t pledge!

“Well, well, well, isn’t this an interesting thing for me to wake up to!” The boisterous voice grated on the ears and echoed throughout the now silent woods, Dipper’s vision fuzzy as black and white swirled at the edges of his world and- God, what had they done. “Oh, oh, is it my birthday? I feel like it’s my birthday with a gift like this!”

Body twitching on the dry, dead grass, Dipper dug his fingers into the lifeless earth as he looked up at hearing a soft whimper. Mabel was staring at him with wide, fearful eyes, entire body shaking. Autumn leaves were threaded through her hair and dirt mixed with blood streaked her cheeks. He wasn’t sure which one coughed on the blood in their throats first, but he knew that soon the both of them were gasping for air.

“I said to not let them touch it!” The voice that yelled had Dipper covering his ears and no… No, he had heard enough of that voice to last a lifetime. No more. Please- Please. Hadn’t he paid enough for his mistakes? Hadn’t he suffered enough?

“Oh, so it was just an accident. How disappointing- Ooh, but that means you didn’t wake me- Hah! It wasn’t you lot! It was them who did it! Oh, how beautiful.” Dipper couldn’t help but wonder what was worse - running from hell or running straight into its arms.

“Enough. Let’s finish this now. They know too much. Besides, that is weakened. It won’t take much to put it down for good.” Reality around them rippled and shifted and twisted and idiots. Idiots. It had taken the sacrifice of everything to defeat him last time. They really thought he was weak?

“Now, now, didn’t your mother ever teach you to not be rude.” Jerking backwards as blue fire seared its way into the earth, Dipper shrieked at the pain that wracked his body. It hurt- It hurt. The fire, though… When that brushed him, it didn’t hurt. He knew what that meant.

“Di-pper.” God, Mabel sounded as wrecked as he felt. It was all he could do to grasp her hand when she crawled close enough, the two linking their fingers together and holding on tightly. No matter what happened next… Well. At least they would die together, right?

“Oh, how sweet.” Children. They were such children. Had they really thought they could survive this? Had they really thought this was the best idea to beat such a dangerous enemy? It was so- It was- Children. “You thought I was bad, huh? Didn’t even think that there’s more dangers in this world than me. You should be careful of crows, you know. They tend to gather around dead bodies.”

“Release them, demon! The Sect of the Crow stands with God to spread His light and message! You shall not poison the world with your sin!”

“Ugh, disgusting as I remember.” The fire flickered over his skin, Dipper focusing - or at least trying his best to - and staring at the circle that was burned into the dead ground. Circle. Oh… “You made a very dangerous enemy, you two. Honestly, you’re always getting into such trouble!”

The circle wrapped around him and Mabel tightly, Dipper’s gaze slipping and sliding more towards that hazy world of black and white. A scream stuck itself in his throat as his head was jerked up by fingers under his chin, Dipper feeling heat and power as a gloved hand held him in place- Gloved. Human. A human gloved hand.

“What are you doing, demon! Get away from them! Quickly- Quickly! Kill them before it regains power!” Power… Ah, that was right. They had been running- Leading. They had been leading them all and- It was cold.

“You humans are always so fragile.” It hurt. Everything hurt - everything except that quiet voice, words near hummed out instead of spoken. The words were low, and smooth, and nothing like the high-pitched, wild glee from before. “Get in over your head, Pine Tree?”

The blue fires blazed around him and his sister, Dipper prying his eyes open (when had he closed them?) and looking into eyes of molten gold. Eyes. Eyes. “Oh, Pine Tree.” Gold and black and retribution. “Look at you. All grown up.”

Mabel’s weak groan captured his attention for only a moment, the hand on his chin keeping him from moving. He was almost grateful for it. Almost. Almost. So many almosts. He had almost been fast enough. He had almost been smart enough. He had almost been strong enough. He had almost managed to beat them. He had almost managed to save them. Almost, almost, almost.

There was blood on his hands. His head was given a rough shake, Dipper’s gaze skittering back to that molten, bubbling gold, attention utterly and completely captured. All he felt was the leather glove against his skin and the fading warmth of his sister’s hand. “Oh, it seems she’s dying too, now. Tell me, Pine Tree, how much family did your mistakes cost you?”

He thought he was so smart. Now look. Blood. So much blood. Ah, everything was quiet. Maybe that’s why he had this sense of standing on the edge. No- Yeah. Yeah, that was it. It was standing on the edge of a cliff so high up you couldn’t even see the ground and it was just one small step-

“Mason Pines.” The only breathing he could hear was his. The sound of screaming and gunfire was so far away, but the only breathing he could hear was his. Only his. Mabel… “Ssh, it’s alright. I can fix everything. I can fix all of it. You know I can. You know my power.”

Pine Tree. Only one person had ever… Right. They had escaped where they had been keeping them and they had lead them all into the woods that they knew so well and they had a plan. They failed. Blood and fear and human skin had touched the stone. Ah, the hand in his was limp. Cold. Empty. Lifeless.

An intake of air had Dipper coughing, vision swimming before he felt warm human skin instead of a leather glove- Human. “What do I want? Isn’t it obvious? I can fix it, but I want my freedom.” No. No. His family in exchange for the entire world? He could never- Mabel. Mabel. “It may not be worth them, but isn’t it worth your world?” Cold. Cold and lifeless. “Mason Sherman Pines.”

Don’t trust him. Don’t let him in your head. Don’t listen to him. Don’t make the same mistakes. Turn away. Turn away, turn away, turn away quick before he catches you- Save them? “Every single one of them.” The gunshots grew closer and the screaming grew louder. “You know what I want.”

Ah, well. In that case, it wasn’t a competition at all, was it? It never was. Okay. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.

Mabel’s hand fell out of his and another took its place. Warm (burning), hard (painful), and tight (greedy). “You know what to say, don’t you? Well?”

Bill Cipher.

The word was torn out of him with a single, last breath.

“Deal.”

I give you everything.

“-ipper. Dipper! Wake up, sleepy head!” Jerking awake with a gasp of air, Dipper clutched at his side where the knife had been stabbed into him far too deep- And… Skin. Nothing but smooth skin that was only broken up by the appendix scar he had since he was nine. Which was impossible - completely impossible. He had just been bleeding out in the woods and dying and oh, god he had said- “Dipper?”

“Okay- I’m okay. I guess I had a nightmare.” Dipper shook under the hand his sister placed against his forehead, looking frantically around the bus. They were on a bus? When had they… It was rumbling along, though, the sight of trees passing them by and the highway bumpy under the wheels. There were only three other people, one on his phone, another asleep against the window, and one hiding obvious animal ears under a hat. “We’re… We’re on a bus.”

“Well, yeah. C’mon, bro-bro, we’re going to visit the Grunkles. Re- Remember?” Mabel looked at him with eyes full of worry, Dipper only giving a shaky nod in response. “It’s June fifteenth.” Right. The start of summer. They were going to Gravity Falls. “Maybe you should try to get some more sleep until we get there.”

“Yeah- Yeah, sorry, Mabel. I just had a really bad nightmare, I guess.” Settling back and closing his eyes, Dipper pulled his hat down low enough to block out the sun, sighing as the world began to darken. Nightmare. It was just a nightmare, he told himself. Only that.

Then his world was filled with black and white and a loud, bright laugh that shook the very foundation of reality.

“Well, well, well. Didn’t that ‘Grunkle’ of yours ever teach you not to make a deal with a demon, Pine Tree?”

#gravity falls #bill cipher #dipper pines #otpafs #blood

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