Shindig with Demons

The morning was as bad as Dipper could have imagined. He did get some sleep, but every few hours he would awaken and silently hit himself at the sunless sky. The orb of light climbed over the horizon, barely making the sky the light blue hue that it normally is, indicating that the crack of dawn was upon them. Stan and Ford were already packing up, rolling up the sleeping bags and throwing them back into the truck. Mabel was a morning person, but this was earlier than morning. Her eyes were half closed still and her hair was full of flower petals from where she wiggled out of her sleeping bag. The sleepless night was still tugging at Dippers stamina supply but he forced himself to get up and throw his sleeping bag along with the rest.

"Sorry kids, climbing a mountain will take a while and I want to at least get half way there before sun down." The thought of climbing another mountain made Dippers bones feel heavy. All he wanted to do was curl up in a hole some where and sleep for an eternity. They all got in the truck, Dipper and Mabel climbing into the back of the truck. They set off, the road shaking and throwing the truck around. It would have been unpleasant, but the heaviness of Dippers eyes got the better of him and the rocking of the truck just felt all the more relaxing. The morning air was turning more day, the dew clinging to the moisture in the air. It made His nose sting with the cold and the wind from movement was all the more freezing, but it was a pleasant cold. 

The stars were starting to fade and white clouds took their place. They were fluffy and light, meaning rain was not of concern. Dipper watched as the sky turned all the way blue, tree branches brushing across the skyline. Mabel was fast asleep beside him, snoring lightly. For some reason, Dipper felt more relaxed than he had ever been. He could feel a rock behind the lightness in his heart however. The pending events of today or tomorrow was edging at his mind. Killing Lena would be tough, and a bit emotional. And the pending doom to the world if they didnt get at least one of her souls was heavy on his shoulders. 

Before he knew it he was asleep, his dreams swirling with colors beyond imagination, fueled by the lack of sleep from before. It turned much more pleasant when his skin turned warmed by the sun. When he awoke his eye lids were orange, the veins in them showing clearly against the sheer rays from the sun. When Dipper sat up, they were still driving, but the surroundings were much different than from before. The Dirt road they were on before was thickly overgrown, entangling into the wheels of the truck. The leaves of the trees were thick with life, making the landscape around them hard to see. The sun was straight up above them, signaling the passing of time had been about 4 hours. Mabel curled up beside him comfortably, murmuring in her dream filled slumber. 

Dipper knocked on the small window on the back of the truck, "Are we almost there?" His throat was dry, his words a bit foggy.

"Almost, we got lost along the way because somebody was holding the map upside down." Stan said with a roll of his eyes.

"It was you. You were the one holding the map." Ford never took his eyes off the road, his voice monotone.

"Yeah well you never noticed it so its both our fault." They both seemed to be tired, the atmosphere turning a bit thick.

Dipper sat back down, yawning while soaking in the sun. The hot summer heat wave was becoming more and more noticeable. Dipper regretted wearing his vest for once, his shirt sticking to his back. He had to be careful where he moved, the unforgiving rays of sunlight baking the metal of the truck bed to burning degrees. Mabel had it easy, sitting on the shady side of the truck. He had woken up after another half our of sleeping. 

"You know, you can sit over here if your really hating it you big whiny butt." She mocked, but Dipper was content of sticking it out, out of spite. 

"Im fine, im just saying that summer is going to be pretty hot this year." Dipper leaned back, placing his arm on the side of the truck, instantly regretting it as the metal scorched his under arm. He quickly placed it back into his lap, poking at the sensitive skin. 

"Okay kids we're here!" The truck halted to a stop, finding themselves in a glade filled with grass and rocks. A hill lead upwards and slowly turned into yet another mountain, the top reaching all the way up to the clouds. 

"Are we going to meet more rock people!" Mabel bounced happily.

"Are we going to have to climb yet another mountain." Dipper groaned, a lot less happily.

Stan and Ford got out of the car, Ford taking the map from Stan. "Chillaxe kiddos, I think ive had enough of rock munchkins for a while and we're getting too old to climb more than one cliff a century." Stan reassured them, grabbing a bag out of the back. 

"Now, we want you two to stay with the truck while me and Stan go up to the Sun pool." Ford said, grabbing the other pack. 

"Whaaat, but it sounds so cool. Me and Dipper would be really good and sit back." Mabel frowned, running up to Ford and pouting.

"No,  its way too dangerous. And its much more dangerous than we had ever hoped so ever since we discovered theres a third party in on this." Ford waved her off, shoving a couple of booking into the already stuffed back packs. 

"But this is a learning experience, and we both know that Dipper will just run off and join you anyways." Dipper glared at Mabel for her distrust, buy didnt say anything because he knew himself too well.

"And wouldnt it be better if you knew we were there and conscience of our existence." Mabel flailed her arms, expressing her passion and dismay.

"Cmon Ford, dont be a stick in the mud. We both have been doing this since the dawn of time." Stan defended her, placing his hand on her shoulder and pouted with her. "And hey, we might need all the help we can  get." Ford rubbed the bridge of his nose, his glasses pressing onto his for head.

"If they get hurt it will be on you and you will have to talk to their parents yourself." Ford frowned more, grumbling to himself. All three of the other cheered happily. 

Dipper and Mabel grabbed their bags and followed Stan and Ford. They walked up the hill and followed the cliff, the hill tuning steeper and steeper. The cliff soon rounded off into a corner, the pathway turning a tiny bit thinner. Not as thin as the pathway as before, but still pretty thin. The fall below dropped into a fast running river, and over all everything here was beautiful.  

The only thing lacking from such a wonderful and light scene was, life. There wasnt a single bird song or the croak of a frog. The air was still with silence, the only thing breaking it was the sound of the river below. The lack of wild life gave everything an empty feeling. Like a picture almost, everything still where it was. Dipper held onto the steep slope beside him, looking up to where it stretched. He could just barely see white, either from clouds or snow. He knew Oregon was filled with volcanoes and mountains, but he had never seen these types of land formations. He couldnt tell if it was hidden by some sort of magic, or just stashed away by its mountain brothers. 

The path widened out and they were soon surrounded by another clearing of grass. But instead of rocks being scattered into the grass, there were pools of water. The sun was now infront of them, illuminating the landscape they were on. The pools almost looked as if they were made of gold, reflecting the harsh sun's rays, making the walls of rock shine. Walking forward a bit more sat a much larger pool. It had tiles of design in the center of it, drawing the picture of a golden sun. It had algae crammed into the cracks of the tile, indicating that this place was much older than it looked. 

The pool had a flat rock going out into it, almost like a stage. This is where Stan and Ford both threw down their bags, unpacking a couple of questionable items. A pumpkin was the most spawn of confusion but he trusted his grunkles at this point. 

"Alright children, we need you to go behind, that rock." Ford pointed to a large bolder sitting at the entrance where they just had entered from.

"Grunkle Ford, where are we?" Mabel gazed around the hidden clearing, obviously awed by the sight.

"The Sun pool, built by nomads ages ago. A goddess of light use to live here but is long gone now ever since, uh, he showed up. Actually, im pretty sure all the gods and goddess' have left since then. But that doesnt matter, when the sun is in align with the pool the next part of Lena should show up. Or at least I hope so." Ford's brows furrowed in thought, concern printed onto his face.

"If those bastards hadnt gotten her soul fragment already this should be a piece of cake." Stan laughed to himself, taking out what looked like a shotgun, but instead with hand carved symbols marked into the wood of the handle.

"What happens if they already got it?" Dipper questioned, leaning on the rock wall and letting his tired feet rest.

"Well you saw what happened to the one in the woods didnt you? The fragment get enraged and loses all control of their emotions. If they did get it, the fragment of love would turn to the fragment of pain." Ford took out an old leather book, a golden hand with six fingers on the from. It seemed to be stained with various things by the look of it. 

"Dont we need to only get one though? Wouldnt that be easy? Just go for the last one and then there wouldnt need to be such a rush." Mabel sat on the grass, placing her face into her hands.

"It would be easy, but sadly the final one is like a final boss. Doesnt appear until all the others are gone. And what im worried about is that, if this one is taken itll mean we're the ones behind." Ford closed the book, facing the two of them. "Now get behind that rock, its almost time." Dipper and Mabel both got up and slid behind the rock, peaking out from behind it barely. 

Almost as if on cue, the pool started glowing up to a blinding light. Dipper had to squint his eyes, barely being able to make out a humanoid figure within the light. As the light faded a familiar face appeared. Lena stood in front of them, wearing what she wore when he had seen her before. But she didnt look exactly the same. Instead her skin was stained with black veins. The lines were as black as ink, leading all the way to her heart, which in place of where it should have been was nothing but a black hole. Dipper was struck with confusion until he hear Ford yell to them. 

"It was a trap! Fuck!" Before another word could be said the air was filled with a high pitch screech, making Dipper press his hands against his ears and grit his teeth. White light filled the clearing, sharp shards of electricity scattering into the air. When the noise disappeared he could hear the sounds of guns shots and what sounded like Fords voice yelling. But Dippers ears were ringing and his head fuzzy. Looking around gave him a headache and he felt as if he was going to pass out. Suddenly a warm feeling spread throughout him, steadying him and clearing his ears. Dipper looked to Mabel who was on the ground, passed out. He wanted to worry but was distracted by the loud noises coming from behind him. He peaked over the edge the best he could without drawing attention.

Lena was in the center of it all. Her facial features wrought with pain. Spirals and strips of white streaked around her. It seemed almost as if her was shattering. The veins of black was spreading, marking her skin pure black. It was spreading from her hands, quickly running up her arms. Stan was shooting bright yellow bullets from the shotgun. Each shot shattered a piece of the white, breaking the shield that was protecting her. Stan was quickly drawing on a piece of paper, all Dipper could see was that it was a circle. 

Dipper could hear his heartbeat thrumming against his chest, his palms sweaty against the rock. He wished dearly that it was fear, but that wasnt the feeling he was getting. It was excitement. The thrill started a stream of adrenaline to spread into his body. His breath was shaky, making him self conscience of his breathing. Ford seemed to have finished the drawing, throwing it into the air. What followed was a blue wall made out of what looked like jello. But Dipper knew better than that, guessing it was some sort of barrier. 

The next thing he knew, Lena was completely inky black. Stan had stopped shooting, Ford pulling him being the wall. Dipper got the cue, ducking behind the rock. Blackness filled the air, the scraping noise returning. It wasnt as bad as before but it still made Dipper wince and cover his ears. When the air stilled, and he had opened his eyes, the wall he was looking at was charred. After shaking off the chill he felt, Dipper peaked over once again. The entire room before him was stained a void black. The only thing spared was what was behind Fords shield. Ford and Stan looked as if they were regaining their senses. The water was no longer clear and reflective, but pitch black. The once beautiful scene was now decimated into a black wasteland.

Ford stood up, walking over to the rock where Dipper and Mabel were hiding. 

"You guys okay?" He still seemed a bit out of it, but generally okay,

"Yeah, but Mabel is out of it. What was that Grunkle Ford?" Dipper stood up, fully being able to see the extent of the damage.

"It seems that they did get here before us, and set a trap. They planted a bomb into the fragment and left her here. Its the most evil thing you could do." Fords voice was thick with disgust. 

"But now we know one major thing." Stan said, walking up to the  group. "They're ahead of us, and know we're coming."