Chapter Text
For Eda to end up in such an insignificant and small part of Earth baffled her. Somehow, in a turn of events, the portal opened up and revealed a cluster of trees with no society in sight.
She didn’t think for a second there would be anything worth her while.
Despite it all, here she was in a speeding chase with a man she had hardly spoken to, the flashing police lights getting closer by the second.
She continued to yell out directions, trying to shut out the impending arrest that was coming. The last thing she needed was for her to break out in feathers in front of this stranger and human police.
This stranger was a very rough-edged man who wore a tattered winter coat and soleless shoes. She barely could get a good look at him, but she couldn’t think as they fled the scene.
They had an entire cash register ripped from the counter of a gas station, sitting in the backseat, coins sprawled about. They slid and jingled with each tortuous turn. Everything felt slowed down in time, Eda hearing her breathing and heartbeat.
Once she assessed her position, everything sped up into real time. She held onto the dashboard for dear life.
The speedometer was clocking in at 107, no, 117.
She heard the tires screeching and the road beneath getting scuffed.
Her eyes shut, and before she could think anymore thoughts, time slowed down once again.
She was thrown forward, gravity pulling her into its grip.
Her head jolted towards the windshield, the seatbelt keeping her from smashing into it. Her arms flailed back, the entire car slipping out from beneath her.
She heard screaming, but she couldn’t tell who exactly it was. It could have been her or the stranger. Or, maybe it was both.
Then, boom, she felt the car land heavily.
She was lying cramped next to the passenger window and the ceiling. Her entire vision was turned upside down.
As she tried to regain focus; it became clear.
“We flipped over, didn’t we?” she asked out loud.
Her thoughts aligned and everything soon started to make sense.
“Yeah,” replied the stranger, “Sure did.”
She struggled to open the door, stumbling into a pile of crunchy leaves. She rolled over and her frizzy orange-and-silver hair flopped into her face.
She assessed herself, and noticed feathers on her wrists. She quickly patted it down and tried to regain some kind of dignity.
The stranger stood up from the other side and held onto the car.
It was turned over onto the top, smoke pouring out from the windows. The cash register was flung out of the back window and cash was mixed amongst the leaves and bushes.
They both breathed heavily, stunned from the intense deed they had just done.
Eda turned around to make her way up the hill, desperately wanting to go back to the Boiling Isles, but the stranger called out.
“So, you’re just gonna help me rob a store and then walk away?” he called.
Eda turned around, “You didn’t actually think I was gonna take the blame for any of this, did you?”
The stranger walked closer. Eda took note of his crooked glasses and wide nose.
“Come on, at least let’s talk about what the hell just happened.” he said.
Eda sighed, “Alright, fine. We ripped a cash register from a gas station counter, threw it in the back, ran from the cops and then the car flipped down a hill into a ditch. There, we talked about it, now, I bid you ado.”
She tried to walk up the hill again, but something in her made her want to stay behind. This stranger was interesting.
“Alright, if you’re so in need to talk to me, tell me your name.” she suggested.
“It’s Stanford.” he replied, “Stanford Pines.”
Stanford was not his name, but he had used it for so long it was what he told everyone.
“What about you?”
She paused. In this realm, she had a chance for a new identity.
“Uh, M…Marylin?” she drew it out, her attempt to lie failing, “Marylin Rosenstein.”
She pulled that name from somewhere.
“Right, so I guess we’re both under fake names.” Stan replied.
Eda rolled her eyes, “If you want to believe that, then sure.” she stated.
Both of them crawled up the hill and out of the ditch, taking sight of the gravel road with no car in sight.
“Where to now?” Stanford asked.
“Don’t you have a house or something?” Eda asked.
Stanford seemed to hesitate, as if he was embarrassed. He gripped tighter to the satchel stuffed full of the cash they stole together.
“I do, actually. Are you okay with staying with a lowlife shyster like me?” he asked.
“Don’t be so prudish. I could sleep in a bird’s nest if it came down to it. I just want to rest. It’s been a wild night that I didn’t exactly ask for.” she replied.
That analogy struck Eda with a strong sense of familiarity. She slept in a nest of sorts back in her own realm. She quickly tried to listen to what Stanford was talking about instead of getting lost in thought.
“My place is a ways away. Let’s head into town and get a bus. Come on.” he said.
They walked awkwardly towards the lights of what could barely be called a town. Stan resided in a rustic area in the Oregon wilderness, called Gravity Falls. It had nothing more than some raccoons and men who married woodpeckers. Eda found that out whilst walking past the local pub.
Stan kept on, “What’s the holdup, Mary?” he asked, barely turning around.
Eda sped up, “For the last time, my name is E…” she caught herself, “Marilyn. Not Mary.”
Stan scoffed, “Potato, tomato.”
“I just think I could use a bit more explanation to this place. Everyone here is way different than where I come from.” Eda said.
A tuft of her hair was blown in the wind, moving away to reveal her pointed ears underneath.
Stanford squinted, trying to get a closer look.
“Your ears…” he muttered.
Eda felt her face turn hot and she quickly covered them with her hands.
“I’ve never gotten a good look at you. Now that I have, you seem different. Where did you say you were from again?” he asked.
Eda darted her eyes around and saw a pamphlet on the sidewalk. It was wrinkled and torn but she saw NEVADA and UTAH.
“Oh, well, I was born in Ooh-tah…right next to Nev-a-dah…” she awkwardly butchered the names of each state.
Stan looked at her sideways, “Right…” he continued to stare at her sideways.
Eda felt herself with the urge to word-vomit everything. But she couldn’t, it was too risky for any human to know who she really was. She was an inter dimensional witch and pickpocketer from a realm called the Boiling Isles.
On Earth, she was Marilyn, a simple grifter that got into too much trouble.
Before Stanford could stare her down any harder, a rickety old bus pulled up on the side of the street and Stanford pulled out some cash to pay for their fares.
They awkwardly slid into the same seat and faced in opposite directions. Eda continued to keep her ears concealed underneath her hair.
Then, without any words, Stanford held out his wool hat.
“Don’t be embarrassed about your ears, Mary. I think they’re cool. But here, use this to cover them if you really want.” he said.
Eda slowly reached for the hat and shoved her frizzy hair into it, a swell of bashful emotions rolling through her like a wave.
“T-thanks…” she murmured.