[video] once there was a way to get back homeward

[nascensibility]

[It wasn't enough, she thinks, to lose so much back home that she had to return here to another loss she was only just rebuilding. It wasn't enough to take away, it wasn't enough to really hurt, no, to quietly return to a familiar room, empty with its vast walls and dark corners. Slowly she filled it again, odds and ends of furniture and the trappings of a home to which she can never return.

She has a reputation to uphold even in spite of the circumstances, better to nurse the greatest wound out of the public eye, a garish scar across her stomach. Evelyn could swear the blade reached her heart.

The exhaustion nestles deep into her bones, a palpable chill that reminds her what she is.

What she isn't.]

I've been informed I was away for a little while, [she addresses the network, unable to muster more than a tired smile.] Perhaps someone might catch me up. I'll be-

[For a moment Evelyn appears distracted, hand gravitating toward her waist.]

I'll be in the library. I've also got several, erm, dogs that need homes. Please let me know if you're interested.



Private to Philip, 11:31 AM
I’m back. May I come and see you? It's important.
-E

Comments

[krmvgivv]

Books save the day. Cool. [Books also almost ended the day, but shh, not the point. Either way, books are as powerful and awesome as Dipper always suspected.

He hesitates for a moment, then pulls the journal out from under his vest.]

I told you before all the, uh, zombie stuff that I'd gotten a lot more interested in codes this summer? Well... [He holds up the journal.] This book saves the day a lot too.

[nascensibility]

[There isn't much that can be said about books when they become both the cause for and solution to multiple problems, but Evelyn has faith in her family's ability to get out of disastrous situations either way.

She has to.

Watching curiously she can tell that Dipper has held onto this particular secret for some time, his fingers clutching the cover of a book with weathered pages. Understandably intrigued (and concerned), Evelyn extends a hand.]

May I see it?

[krmvgivv]

[Dipper holds it close for a moment, then nods, offering it out for her to look through.]

I've been spending my summer trying to figure out who the Author is. He's some sort of genius, but I can't figure out who. No one in Gravity Falls is nearly smart enough unless they've been hiding it really well. And after a while, the pages just stop mysteriously. He knows about everything, though. Everything in Gravity Falls, at least.

[It's pretty useless in Wonderland.]

[nascensibility]

[He's wary and she understands - Evelyn wouldn't normally have let her older brother haul around The Book of Amun Ra, and with good reason. Jonathan ended up dropping it into a fetid pool of dead bodies. It took her years to forgive him for it, and the thought of that animosity now is numbing.

Evelyn opens Dipper's journal.]

Did you ever think they might not be in residence there anymore?

[she asks absentmindedly, looking over the careful script, the drawings, the small notations in the margins in some sort of strange symbolic code. Likely the author's own creation.]

Perhaps they left before finishing.

[Still odd, though. Why would the author have left without their own research?]

[krmvgivv]

Maybe, but you'd still think there'd be some sign of him left. [Dipper rifles in his vest again, pulling out a black light. He reaches up, flipping through to a certain page, and lights up the black light to reveal the hidden image of the bunker.]

I only learned that there's invisible ink in here recently, but when I get back to Gravity Falls, I'm gonna check out this bunker. There should be more clues in there. I mean, secret bunker. There'd have to be.

[Maybe even the Author himself.]

[nascensibility]

[The addition of the light startles her for a number of reasons: firstly, because it's an unusually-shaped torch, and secondly, it reveals a layer of invisible ink in bright lavender. Eyebrows shooting toward her hairline, Evelyn traces the edges of the spiral staircase in the drawing of the tree.]

Dipper...

[Someone went to a great deal of trouble to hide certain aspects of this journal, fragments of information, and the number suggests this is the third installment in a series of books. This knowledge isn't entirely esoteric, either - the author did local research, if Dipper is to be believed, and then vanished one day without a trace?]

Is there any common, underlying theme in this text? Recurring statements or data?

[She turns a few pages, frowns at what appears to be a triangle with arms and legs wearing a top hat, and looks at Dipper.]

What exactly are you expecting to find?

[krmvgivv]

[Dipper grimaces slightly at the image of Bill. Sure, they've defeated him, both at home and when he made trouble here, but it's still probably his least favorite page. And the one he comes back to more often than he'd like. He needs to be ready. Bill will do something again, and Dipper needs to be ready to fight him.]

A lot of stuff about monsters, mostly. Their weaknesses and strengths. Conspiracies. [He flips backwards, relaxing very slightly as they move past the Bill page, bringing her to the page that reads TRUST NO ONE in such big, menacing letters.] A lot about being careful who you trust. [That's... a generous interpretation of that statement, Dipper.]

I don't know what's down there, but there have to be clues, right? Or maybe.... [He hesitates, because it seems like almost too much to hope, but people don't vanish without a trace. Maybe the Author himself will be down there. Maybe Dipper can really meet him.]

[nascensibility]

[Be careful who you trust. Evelyn could have used the same advice back in January, after New Year celebrations once the glitter had settled, once she sobered from the purported boon of a loved one's return. Be careful who you trust, when those you trust have proven to lie again and again and again.

I know I said I'd leave you alone, but please listen to me one last time.

Wearily, Evelyn turns another page in Dipper's journal.]

Perhaps the author doesn't want to be found.

[krmvgivv]

But... I need to find him!

[It's occurred to Dipper too, that no one who's this good at hiding and this paranoid wants to be found. But that's other people. If Dipper can figure it out, if Dipper can figure out who he is and where he's hiding, surely he won't be upset. Surely Dipper will have proved himself by then, surely the Author will be happy to talk to him.

All he has to do is solve the mysteries before the summer's over.]

I have so many questions!