Wonderer's Wish World: An Empty Land

Spirits and Such

"Um..." Norman didn't seem to know where to start. He kept glancing at nothing, and then back to Dipper and Wirt, who waited patiently. Eventually, Norman sighed.

"Yeah, you're right," Norman said, and Wirt blinked.

"Who is?" Dipper asked, and Norman fidgeted.

"It's... Adam," Norman told them. "Well, one of them is."

Both of Dipper and Wirt's mouth fell open, and neither of them responded for a long time while Norman waited nervously. Wirt didn't know what to say... he didn't know how to react; the information Norman was giving him didn't fit with what he'd thought before. This didn't make any sense...

Eventually, Wirt managed to force something out. "I... really? Is it really him?"

Norman rung his hands, glancing to the side. "Yeah. He's telling to remind you about the dragonfly, to remind you."

Wirt audibly swallowed. He squinted around the wall, but he still couldn't see anything. "Oh."

"Yeah," Wirt said, nodding nervously. "He also said... that he was sorry for leaving you guys, and that he really was only trying to help, and that he, well, really thought he could do something..."

"...Tell him that it's alright," Wirt said, and wow, was all this awkward.

"He can hear you," Norman told him.

"What happened to him?" Dipper spoke up, but then he paused. "Er... what happened to you, Adam?"

Norman looked a little chagrined that this conversation was happening through him, but he tilted his head to listen for Adam's answer anyway. "He was killed by a giant bug, he says."

Dipper sighed. "Anything else?"

"...He says he can't really remember," Norman said. "You forget a lot when you're dead."

"Not just when you're dead," Wirt muttered. He wasn't really a forgetful person, but he frequently found himself forgetting things that happened a couple months ago, but his memory of his life before remained intact. It was just life here that remained blurry, and Wirt had just chocked that up to the pure stress of this place.

But he still remembered Adam, and though most of their time together had been spent worrying about whether Kipo was who she said she was or not, he still had come to care about him, and, just like Kipo, his death had hit Wirt hard. He still had trouble wrapping his mind around it, the fact that someone who had been a constant by his side for so long was just... gone.

Well, not gone, because here he was again, apparently. Somehow, Wirt had a harder time processing that more then anything else. He felt like he should say something, but his mind went blank, and he was left staring dumbly at Norman, who stared back.

Eventually, Dipper shook his head. He looked out of his depth, too. "Norman, you had said there were two ghosts?"

Norman blinked, seemingly surprised. He hesitated for a couple seconds. "Yeah, I did. The other one is one you hadn't met before, and he says that he lived in this world before us, but he isn't from this world either."

Dipper and Wirt exchanged a confused look, and even Norman seemed to realize that what he was saying was kind of a shocking revelation. He paused for a second to let them take it in before continuing.

"Uh, he says his name is Ash Ketchum," Norman continued awkwardly.

"Ash Kechtum?" Dipper repeated, tilting his head. "That's a bit of an odd name."

"Isn't your name Dipper?" Wirt asked, glancing down at him.

"Uh, it's a nickname, Wirt," Dipper replied.