THE LEGEND GOES ON ; gravity falls

[ ONE ]

Dedicated to VH_Wakko5150 and WonderGirl1059 !
First started March '21;
rewritten November '22!

The shapes of trees flickered in and out of view through the murky window, pines and firs grasping at the clouds. Celia's bag knocked against her legs as the bus ran over a speed bump. She jolted upright, watching the bus stop loom steadily closer with a mixture of anticipation and dread. But it was inevitable; the vehicle skidded to a halt, and she took a breath, pulling herself to her feet.

The little sign by the stop read Gravity Falls. It was worn by wind and rain, rust reddening some of the letters. Kicking a stray pebble along the path, Celia made her way to the edge of the forest.

Only just visible through the trees was the shadow of a path, the vague outline of a large cabin. She moved towards it, boots scraping on the loose gravel. She hummed something quietly to herself as she walked. Closer and closer to the log cabin — then she stopped short.

A statue, directly in the centre of a clearing. Pyramid-shaped, an eye peering out through the mossy foliage, one stone hand stretching towards the sky. A strange decoration for the forest, she couldn't help thinking; Celia moved closer, leaning in with a hand outstretched to touch the edge of the stone...

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you," someone's anxious voice piped up from behind her, and she straightened abruptly, turning to face the source of the noise.

A boy about her age stood in front of her, a blue-and-white cap perched slightly haphazardly atop his curly hair. His gaze flickered between her hand and the statue, slightly nervously. She stepped away from its outstretched fingertips.

His demeanour shifted slightly, and he relaxed. "Sorry. Some people think that statue's cursed, or something. It's not a good idea to go too near it."

"Why're you here, then?" Celia asked, nose wrinkling. He shrugged.

"I wasn't planning on stopping," came his answer, accompanied by a frown. "I just didn't want you to do anything you—"

"Hey-o!"

Both Celia and the boy jumped at the shout, surprise illuminating their faces. "Mabel!" he hissed, as a grinning face emerged from one of the bushes next to them.

In a flurry of colourful wool and chocolatey brown hair, Mabel had tumbled from the bush to a standing position, a grin on her face. "You're so tense, Dipper! The statue isn't cursed," she said cheerily, stepping around him and knocking the boy's — Dipper's — shoulder with a fist. He looked frustrated, but there was the faintest hint of a grin on his face.

"You don't know that! You can never rule out the possibility that—"

"Blah, blah, blah," Mabel droned, the sleeves of her bright blue sweater flapping as she waved her arms around a bit, making a face. "You always say that, but you were there when Bill got—"

Dipper grimaced, kicking her lightly on the shin with a pointed look at Celia. Mabel paused, scanning the other's appearance with a scrutinising look on her face — then, the statue issue seemingly forgotten, she held out a hand to Celia with an even bigger grin.

"Nice to meet you!" she beamed; when Celia didn't respond to the gesture, Mabel grabbed her hand and shook it for her. "I'm Mabel Pines, this is my younger brother Dipper—"

"We're twins, Mabel, stop telling people you're older than me!" Dipper interrupted, but Mabel ploughed on.

"Who're you?"

"I'm Celia," she answered, voice about ten times quieter than Mabel's — around the ordinary volume.

"Cool name," Mabel commented, finally dropping her hand. "Anyways, was my brother bothering you with his boring nerdy stuff?"

Celia smiled faintly. "A bit."

Dipper let out an irritated huff.

"He's convinced it's cursed with the spirit of this weird—"

"Not the time," he muttered. His sister rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Are you staying for the summer?" Mabel asked eagerly, switching between topics with such abruptness it felt like some strange form of whiplash. Celia nodded hesitantly, and Mabel's smile widened. "Cool! I'll see you around here a lot! You should meet my friends, and I'll show you the Mystery Shack — I can give you a tour if you want!"

Celia hadn't been planning on making friends; she'd not planned on bumping into anyone really, especially not on the first day. But Mabel seemed sweet enough, Dipper less so, and there wouldn't be any harm in accepting. It might slow her down a bit, but she had all the time in the world. She hoped.

"That'd be cool," she finally answered. Mabel's hand shot out and grasped hers.

"Let's go, then!"

"Wh— now?"

"When else?" Mabel tugged lightly at her fingers and she went along unresistingly. A glance back at Dipper told her that he didn't really care much for the idea, but followed them anyway, noticeably uneasy as he passed the statue. She couldn't blame him, though she hadn't seen it before — there was something off about it, but whatever it was, she couldn't identify. Not yet, but she would.

"Where should we start?" Mabel asked, eyes trained on Celia's as they emerged into the bright Oregon sunlight. She shrugged.

"You've never visited before, have you?"

Celia shook her head, and Mabel's face lit up. "Then we can show you everything!"