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Another summer meant another chance to solve the mysteries of Gravity Falls. A year ago, Dipper had only uncovered a small portion of the journals that started everything. This year he headed out alone as Mabel already had plans with some of her other friends. “Dipper please try to stay out of trouble. I know that my warning will probably go unnoticed, I just want to be sure that you will return in one piece.” Mabel said as Dipper packed his things.
“Come one Mebel, I am pretty sure I can handle myself at this point. I mean we have experienced a lot last year. I also promise to not summon zombies or anything similar this time.” Dipper responded, adjusting his signature pine tree hat. He remembered the day he summoned zombies just to prove a point only to cause more problems down the road. The next moment Mabel lightly punched him in the arm. “Yeah, I deserved that. I should get going now before I miss the bus.” Dipper said as he zipped up his suitcase.
Swinging his backpack over his shoulders Dipper walked off, dragging the suitcase behind him. The bus ride passed by in a blur before it finally came to a stop in front of the Mystery Shack. Ford was the only one waiting for him when he stepped off of the bus. “Where are everyone else? I thought they would be here when I arrived.” Dipper asked. He noticed that Ford was hiding something behind his back.
“Running the Mystery Shack of course, got a lot of people stopping by so far. Anyways I took the liberty of adding something to your journal. I wrote it in invisible ink to prevent it from being read by anyone else.” Ford said as he took out Journal 3 from behind his back. Dipper grabbed it and rushed towards the Mystery Shack to find the new information. He barely acknowledged Wendy, running into the house and up the stairs to the attic.
The attic had not changed since he lived in there the previous summer. Still, the time away had worn him. It took a couple of minutes for Dipper to locate the blacklight hidden in the closet. He turned it on and began to flip through the pages. Page after page revealed information he already knew until he reached the final page. Without the light it was completely blank, leaving him wondering what could have been included. Taking a deep breath Dipper shone the light over the page reading: Deep in the forest rests a being of stone. Shake his hand and set him free. Changed by time he waits for you.
Even though the passage never mentioned a name Dipper had a pretty good idea of who it referred to, Bill Cipher. Bill was the only being who was known to shake hand in order to make deals that usually backfired on the person who was foolish enough to agree in the first place. That was not the only thing that surprised Dipper, it was that Ford seemed to think he was better. There was no way he could know that information unless he sought Bill out in the first place. “This makes no sense. Ford hates Bill. Why would he go looking for him after everything he did to us? I need to see it for myself.” Dipper said to himself as he switched off the light.
Slipping the journal in his vest, Dipper headed out and passed the gift shop. He briefly waved to Wendy before venturing deep into the forest. Of course, he had no map or guide to find this statue. Knowing him he was likely to stumble across it accidentally. After a while of wandering Dipper arrived in a large clearing. Sitting right in the center was a statue of Bill with his hand out. “Ford was telling the truth. Maybe I should give it a try,” Dipper said pacing around the statue, “what am I thinking? I should not be considering doing something like this. There must a reason to all of this.” Against better judgement Dipper grabbed on to the outstretched hand.
Before he knew it the surrounding area was bathed in a bright blue light. Dipper braced himself but found that nothing had changed. “That hurt more than I thought. I never expected you to do that Pine Tree.” A man’s voice said. Dipper knew of one person who ever called him by that nickname. Looking down he noticed a young man with an uncanny resemblance to Bill Cipher.
“Bill what are you doing here?” Dipper asked jumping back at the sudden arrival. He had no idea what he could have just unleashed on Gravity Falls.
“Calm down, I am not here to harm you or anyone. I mean how could I when my powers are pretty much gone.” Bill Cipher said as he got to his feet only to fall back to the ground. Sighing Dipper helped him get back up again. “Thank you for not only freeing me but for helping me out there. As you can imagine I am not used to this form.” Bill Cipher said as he tentatively took a few steps.
“How did I even free you? Actually, why were you talking to Ford before I returned?” Dipper asked trying to solve all the questions in his head.
“Ford discovered me during one of his investigations, not sure why he shook my hand. That helped me to people as a ghost if they were nearby. I think he noticed something was different and maybe felt bad for me, no idea since human emotions are strange. I exchanged my powers for the chance to return if the person with my mark shook my hand. It appeared on you before you left, guess he saw it and sought me out.” Bill Cipher said rubbing the back of his head.
Dipper still had some doubts. It was not like he could just return to the Mystery Shack with the person who caused them issues just a year ago. Ford might be able to smooth things over, though it could make things worse. “What are we supposed to do about you? I have no idea how they will react if we return together.” Dipper asked.
“Well, I could turn invisible but not for long. Honestly, I just want to scare them. If you want, I can hide my mark so you can wear something else other than that sweater all summer, surprised no one mentioned it earlier.” Bill Cipher responded cover one eye with his hand. Dipper groaned and started towards the Mystery Shack. There was nothing else he could do on his own. He silently hopes Ford would help out and resolve the situation.
The sun was already going down by the time he made it back with Bill close behind. Standing just outside the door was Grunkle Stan, the one person he really wanted to avoid. “I was beginning to wonder if something happened to you,” Grunkle Stan said narrowing his eyes, “You have a lot of explaining to do. What are you doing with Bill? Did you forget what he did to us?”
Dipper had no response. Out of the corner of his eye Bill stepped out in front of him. “Please if I wanted to hurt him, he would not be here right now. Sixer can confirm this fact. Now step aside, the trek here took a lot out of me.” Bill said as he stared at Grunkle Stan. To his surprise Grunkle Stan moved out of the way. “Come on Pine Tree before he changes his mind.” Bill said before walking to the door. He glared at Grunkle Stan for a moment as he stepped inside.
Wendy was still behind the cashier desk when Dipper and Bill finally made it inside. “I see you were successful in your little adventure Dipper, though being around Bill again is going to take some getting used to.” Wendy said carefree as ever. Almost nothing seemed to phase her and Dipper understood that well. It helped to have someone with a level head nearby, especially when it came to dealing with the more dangerous monsters.
“Why are you fine with this?” Dipper asked brushing hair out of his eyes. Wendy got out from behind the desk and approached him.
“I just have gotten used to these kinds of things. Besides it looks like he is pretty protective of you, I was listening in on the conversation.” Wendy responded, lightly shoving Dipper. As they talked Bill stumbled, nearly falling before Wendy caught him. “I can help you bring him to the attic, I imagine he is not used to the limitations of being human.” Wendy said, effortlessly picking up Bill in her arms.
The day had been pretty eventful and summer was only just beginning. Dipper had a good feeling that Bill was not going to leave him alone as he investigates more of the mysteries in Gravity Falls. It was only after he made it to the attic that Dipper realized how tired he was. “Thanks for the help, Wendy, I know how strange all of this is.” Dipper said as Wendy set Bill down on the empty bed.
“Hey, Gravity Falls would be so boring if we never had these adventures. You have to invite me when you get going again. I think it will be fun to see Bill try to navigate and experience the world the way we do. Just get some rest for now and leave the rest to me.” Wendy said before leaving, closing the door behind her.
Now alone Dipper took out the journal he had been working on. On the next blank page, he detailed the events of the day. Most of the passage was describing how he had freed Bill from his prison and the mark on his arm. Sleep overtook Dipper before he could finish writing. The journal fell to the floor with a soft thud. There was plenty of time to fill it out before heading home once again.