(Reboot) Devilish Minds [Gravity Falls AU]

§ Prologue.

∞ Beware, beware, be skeptical
Of their smiles, their smiles of plated gold.
Deceit so natural.
But a wolf in sheep's clothing is more than a warning. ∞

(Wolf in Sheep's Clothing)

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“Grunkle Stan, I trust you.”

The sound of roaring, like the thunderous crash of waves against a jagged cliff face rang mercilessly in his ears, drowning out all other noise as he stared at the one he thought would always be on his side. Wincing as his heart splintered seeing her smile blissfully unaware of her betrayal. Though it had not ended the world seemed to crumble around him, baring it's ugly face from underneath the delicate mask of ignorance. She had risked all their lives, his life, trusting a man who they barely knew, who'd proven time and time again to be a liar and conman.

He stared at the stranger he'd lived with for the summer, the stranger that had come from a weird portal, and the stanger who'd wagered his life in utter disbelief. They seemed unaware of the danger they'd just been in, the trio chatting amongst themselves ignorant of him. Stanley had his brother back. Stanford could rebuild his life. Mabel was alive. He supposed he should be thankful for that, but his mind idled on the fact that Mabel had no idea this would be the turn out. She'd always been the reckless one, lead by heart while he lead by logic. But he thought she at least had the sense to not kill them all, or at least not risk it. But without a thought she threw it all away without knowing what not pressing that button would do.

That stupid button. Perhaps if there'd been no button, no choice in the matter he'd have been just as cheerful as her. But that wasn't the case, she chose Stan over her own brother, he'd begged her to press it, to end the nightmare. Scared more for her life than his since she was closest to the danger, he thought she'd be the same, he thought if she didn't care about her own life she'd at least care about his. He'd thought wrong it seemed.

The roaring in his ears quietened to a soft static as the world came back. He was not dead, he decided to focus on that for now. Which was probably a good idea because at some point amidst his brooding Mabel had remembered her brother existed and had been trying to get his attention. She was waving her hand in front of his eyes which had been firmly staring at the button. Her expression showed concern but he wondered how much of it was genuine. If she could just dismiss him as she had mere moments ago how much did she actually care?

"Dipper?" Her voice sounded like it was a million miles away, her touch as she shook his shoulder lightly felt like pins and needles stabbing his skin. "Are you okay?"

A soft aching became apparent as he realised his jaw was clenched tightly, teeth grinding slightly. Parting his lips and loosening his jaw to answer he paused. Was he okay? He considered his physical self, though debris was scattered around the weird secret basement of the shack it had all somehow miraculously avoided hitting him. His fall when gravity returned had been minimal. So why did it feel like he was caught in a tumble drier full of rocks? "I'm fine." He answered, looking her over. Covered in a fine layer of dirt and dust, as he was sure he also was, she was otherwise unharmed. She accepted this, his hesitation dismissed easily, he supposed he hesitated a lot naturally and so this wasn't alarming to her.

"Grunkle Ford says he wrote the journals, isn't that cool? You can finally talk to the Author!" She said, perhaps to attempt in cheering him up. He glanced at the man in glasses, Grunkle Ford he guessed. In his internal crisis he'd not heard introductions, but he was the only person there who's name was unknown. The author. He should be happy, excited even, to have found the author. But no matter how he looked at it the whole thing seemed much less important to him than it once had been. Nothing seemed important anymore. He realised she was waiting for a response and slowly licked his dry lips, regretting it as he noted they were dry from the dusty grime that he'd just tasted.