Chapter Text
When Jill and her mother moved to Gravity Falls Jill did not think she’d find anything interesting there but she soon found out how wrong she had been. The very first day they arrived she met small creatures that had tried to kidnap her. She managed to escape them and immediately started taking notes about their encounter.
Jill had always written down all the strange and unusual things she came across and it was a shockingly large number. After trying to find any information about all the beings she had encountered on the internet she found she was the only one who had met nearly as many which is why she has a theory that she is attracted to anomalies and they in turn are attracted to her.
That is why she was not surprised to find out this town had a secret. Some sort of event she discovered called Weirdmaggedon that no one was willing to talk about. And the fact that the Pines family had something to do with it – though at the moment they were not in town she had discovered they would all return for the summer.
*
The first day of the summer break started and Jill already had a plan for how exactly the summer should go. Today she intended to go to the Mystery Shack and meet Dipper and Mabel Pines (who the town spoke of as the younger pair of Pines’ twins) to find out all she can about Weirdmaggedon and how and why it happened.
That is also why she got up early in the morning that day. When she managed to get out of bed after postponing the alarm at least three times she pulled out an outfit of strangely patterned leggings and a yellow sweater with her name embroidered on it – one she had made herself when she learned to knit.
On top of that, she put a medallion she got for her birthday from her dad – it was the only gift he ever gave her and she loved it. It was gold and it had the Eye of Providence symbol on it – the little triangle with one eye, you know the one, right?
She bounded down the stairs, jumping down from the last step as she tends to do and waltzed into the kitchen grabbing only an apple and a muesli bar for breakfast. She grabbed her bag, put her snack in it and her new Mystery Journal, as she had called the notebook she got to write about Gravity Falls in, and with a last look in the mirror fixed her bangs so they covered her hated birthmark she headed out, nearly tripping over her laces which she forgot to tie,
The forest was as of now her most favourite place and she knew that before the two sets of Pines twins got here she had a large amount of time to stake out in the woods and try to write down something about one of the mysterious creatures living there which is why she had a spare pad of paper to put down some preliminary sketches and notes before she’d put them into her journal proper.
*
She found a nice spot in the forest, sat down and waited. She knew the creatures wouldn’t consider her too large a threat and would show up on their own. And so it happened. After about a quarter of an hour, one of those little men who tried to kidnap her on her first day here walked into the little clearing. Jill had seen them here multiple times – their kidnapping attempt not counted – as they tended to go through their trash.
She didn’t know if they had a scientific name or such but they had called themselves gnomes and so she called them as such as well. They did remind her of those decorative lawn ornaments she used to see in the suburbs back before moving here to Oregon but she was afraid to voice the thought as she had a suspicion the little creature would bite her for it.
She grabbed the pencil she had perpetually behind her ear in a mockery of those “artsy” girls in the big city and started to sketch the gnome swiftly. She wanted as detailed of a drawing as she could get so she tried her best to get as many details down and not really polish it as much as she would usually – she always had the time to do that later when she was transferring the drawing into her journal.
After some time she decided to speak to the gnome: “Hiya! I’m Jill and you are?”
The question left her lips and the gnome stared at her for a while before he blinked one eye and then the other out of sync with each other and answered her, “Shembulock!” the little man tilted his head and stared at Jill with a surprising amount of insight – as if he knew something about her not even she did.
“Alright Shmebulock, nice to meet you. Could you tell me something about your… Umm… People?” She continued to ask but Shembulock gave her no more answer but his name which made her realise he could not say any more than that and so she should probably find a different gnome to interrogate for scientific purposes.
*
She spent at least four hours in the forest and it was time for lunch and as such she headed home to find the food on the table waiting for her. She ate alone, just as always, since her mother was always holed up in her study translating texts. Jill ate as fast as she could because it was already half past one and then she headed to the Mystery Shack.
She had to find out all she could and she couldn’t let the chance to ask those who seemed to be the centre of all the mysteries of this town. She had to earn their trust and friendship somehow. But that was the problem for Jill. She had no friends and never really spoke with anyone, people annoyed her and she thought them ignorant. But alas, she needed information and she was willing to do nearly anything for information.
*
When she arrived at the Mystery Shack she could hear the greeting party from quite a distance already. Her timing could not be more perfect. When she walked around the bend in the trees she spotted a boy and a girl around her age and almost choked on her own spit in surprise when she realised that this was Dipper and Mabel. She had thought they’d be at least teenagers, somewhere around fifteen, but in fact, she was the same age and on top of that towered nearly a head over them both!
“Hello there! I’m new here and wanted to introduce myself and maybe ask for some fun places to go to or such,” Jill said in the end as a greeting and Mabel immediately came up to her with excitement.
“Hi! I’m Mabel, this is my brother Dipper, those are my gruncles, Stan and Ford, that’s Wendy and that’s Soos, what’s your name? And as to awesome places to see in Gravity Falls we got you covered! We know all the best spots here!” Mabel told her, empathetically gesturing with her hands.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you all, I’m Jill. Jill Jason. And thank you that you’ll show me around,” Jill laughed a little nervously and did an awkward wave. The gruncles? Mabel called them that, whatever it meant, only smiled and nodded towards her, Dipper looked at her a little suspiciously but smiled awkwardly in the end too and as to Wendy and Soos – she had seen those two around before though she hadn’t known their names til now.
Then Mabel grabbed her and Dipper’s hands and dragged them out of the Shack, Jill was barely catching her breath from Mabel’s sheer energy. The twins showed her just about everything they could, told her stories about the previous summer – for example about how the gnomes tried to make Mabel their queen at which Jill said they had tried the same with her – and many, many more.
Jill finally understood why no one in the town was willing to discuss them now. There was apparently an order which told people to act as if nothing ever happened which she had learnt for a change from Dipper which was most of the conversation they had shared that day.
In the end, this was probably the most fun day she had had in… Well, ever! She didn’t know why but she wanted to spend more time with the twins. Mabel was weird and their fashion choices matched and Dipper was obviously smart and knew a lot about the mysteries of the town. In the end, she told them about the fact she was trying to figure out all the mysteries and they willingly answered her questions.
They told her about Weirdmaggedon. How it happened and what it was like. That a dream demon named Bill Cipher was responsible – trying to take over the world and reshape it in his image. She had her answers now and had no discernible reason to continue to talk with the twins but they were fun and she didn’t want to stop so for the first time in her life she had friends. This summer was shaping up to be better and better.
*
When they arrived back at the Shack it was nearly six in the evening and Mabel invited her for a sleepover. To get to know each other better she said, since they’re friends now. Jill admitted that she had never been on a sleepover before and accepted the invitation with a smile. The twins’ gruncles had asked if she needed to call her parents to ask for permission but Jill just shrugged and told them her mother would most likely not even notice.
In the end, she was sitting in her pj’s, which she had perpetually in her bag in case she wanted to sleep outside in the forest in her sleeping bag, on the floor of Dipper and Mabel’s room and playing games with them. Dipper had informed her she was lucky that Candy and Grenda, Mabel’s friends, couldn’t come today because that would turn the whole thing into a night of chatting about boys. Jill had laughingly said she doesn’t even know any boys outside of Dipper which made Mabel gasp and start talking about all the guys she’s dated or crushed on making Jill and Dipper fall asleep from boredom.
*
In the morning when Jill woke up her head was uncomfortably bent on Dipper’s shoulder and his head was resting against hers. The moments she realised her face felt unbearably hot and she was confused why. Banishing the thought she decided to get up and so she carefully moved Dipper’s head so she would not wake him and then stood up on her feet.
Her neck and back were sore from sleeping in an uncomfortable position all night and so she popped her joints with a sickening loud sound she underestimated the volume of and so it startled the twins awake. It made Mabel, who had slept hanging halfway off the bed already, fall on her face on the floor which made Dipper and Jill laugh when they saw and Mabel was quick to join them.
After helping Mabel get up to her feet from the strange heap she had landed in the three of them headed downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast. Ford was already sitting at the table drinking coffee and reading something – Jill recognised him by the six fingers, if those were not present she’d have no idea which of the older pair of twins was which. Stan was making pancakes and before Jill gathered her bearings she was seated between Dipper and Mabel and there was a full plate before her and so Jill was forced to join them and eat.
*
It was way after lunchtime now and Jill was still hanging out with the twins at the Shack. She didn’t plan to go back for several more hours yet but someone showed up at the Shack she would never expect to see there. Her mother. And what was even more shocking than the fact she actually left her study was that she was looking for her. Jill didn’t know what had made her mother venture outside to look for her but it couldn’t be anything good. Normally her mother doesn’t notice her missing even if she is gone for a week.
“Cassi! Cassiopeia!” Her mother called at her, using her most despised middle name. She never, ever, called her Jill – the name her father picked, she’d been told – she always used her middle name, the name that stemmed from her ugly birthmark. Her birthmark was on her forehead and to her mother it looked like the constellation Cassiopeia, to Jill however, it looked like a crooked W or an overturned M. She got up from the ground, Dipper and Mable following her lead, and called back to her mother.
“Here you are, Cassi! I need help with something, could you please come home?” asked her mother. Just as Jill began to hope that maybe her mother does care about her she goes and says this. The only reason she was looking for Jill was because she got stuck in her translation and wanted her help.
“Is that really the reason you were looking for me? Just because you don’t know how to translate a particular word or mark? You didn’t even notice that I didn’t come home yesterday night?” Jill asked angrily, disappointment clearly written across her features.
She looked at Jill strangely and tilted her head in confusion, “Yes? Is there something wrong with that? And I did know you weren’t home but that’s normal for you, you usually aren’t there.” Was all she said, her face mostly devoid of emotion.
“You know Mom, a good mother would not let her child run around a forest at night. Especially this forest. But you? You obviously don’t care about that! About me!” Jill was beside herself with anger as she screamed at her mother.
“Well, I know you can take care of yourself. Either way, I simply wanted to give you this,” her mother handed her a piece of paper filled with her half cursive scrawl. “It’s a translation of one text about Gravity Falls and there are ciphers and codes in it or something. The original is written there too. I thought since you like mysteries you might enjoy it. Have a nice day and if you don’t come home be careful please,” her mother said and left.
Dipper and Mabel stepped up to her and put their hands on one of her shoulders in a soothing gesture. The conversation between Jill and her mother was heard by everyone who had been at the Shack at the moment. Stan and Ford stood in disbelief at what they saw – the way Jill’s mother was totally emotionless towards her daughter.
Even Jill had a hard time believing just how terrible she treated her right now. She had known what Jill was getting up to and apparently, she didn’t care about it at all. Jill had decided at that moment – she had to find her father and leave her mother in the past. She had no reason to stay with that woman, for she ceased to be her mother at this moment. She was never going to return to her.
“Are you alright, Jill?” Mabel asked her.
“No Mabel. I’m more than alright. I’m resolute,” she said, knowing no one had a chance to understand what she meant by that.
Jill didn’t know anything about her father but if he cared about her he was already a million times better than her mother. “Hey, umm, Jill? If you don’t wanna go back home you can stay here at the Shack for a few days,” Stan offered her.
She smiled at him with a slightly forced smile, “Thank you for the offer. That would be amazing if you didn’t mind me here,”
Not a single one of the people present knew what kind of chain of events this would cause but they would soon find out.