Legends of Gravity Falls: The Shadow in the Forest

Chapter 1: Servants of Cipher

Disclaimer: I do not own Gravity Falls…

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"

In a desolate, barren and rocky mountain range stood a lone Tudor mansion, a massive one. A brick fence topped with black iron spikes and a set of black iron gates barred outside access. It was a dark and dreary day with grey clouds. The rumbling of thunder and the crackling of lightning sounded all around the area. Inside a back room in the mansion's main building sat a lone man shrouded from view under his black robes, his hood covering most of his face in shadow. The robes were decorated in three gold fabric collars and cuffs. He sat on a single chair looking out the grand window to the outside world. The room was decorated with intricate paintings and fancy statue busts, book shelves and sitting areas were other features along with a desk with a single computer on it. A globe and a map both sat on a central table. A wooden door opened and another robed man stepped inside, this one with a lone silver collar and two silver cuffs on his robes instead.

"Grand Master?" the new arrival spoke. The other man turned his chair around, apparently it being a fancy swivel, to face him.

"Hello, my champion. Speak." The man commanded.

"The Council of the Chosen requests your presence to finalize the next phase of the plan, your excellency." The man explained.

"I see. Inform them I will be along shortly. I have been conversing with the Great One, to ensure we are doing his will as he sees fit. Be gone, he will not speak to me with others around."

"As you command, your excellency." The man left without another word. The other man turned back around to look outside once again. He closed his eyes before speaking again.

"Yes, yes, I will do as you command as always Great One. We all exist only to serve you. Soon we shall enter the town of Gravity Falls and ensure your will comes to fruition there as well." The man said darkly to whoever was commanding him. His eyes snapped back open suddenly. They glowed yellow and his pupils had turned pitch back, and an echo of sinister and eerily familiar laughter bellowed forth.

"AHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Over in another section of the mansion inside a large assembly hall stood a large formation of people in black robes, all of them plain. They looked up to another robed man wearing the same silver accessories as the man who entered the back room earlier. Banners showing the symbol of the cult, an orange background with a black circle in the middle featuring a black battle hammer in the center, covered the walls. The cultists were chanting in unison.

"Earth, Sea, and Sky! Nowhere is beyond his eye! He sees, we obey, fall to your knees and pray! The Hammer rises, the Hammer falls! The unbelievers will lose it all!"

Meanwhile in Gravity Falls at the Mystery Shack, down in his private study, Grunkle Ford was pouring over his research. He was deep in thought and clearly had been at this pondering for hours, scattered papers, scrolls, and books lay about everywhere. The older man clearly needed sleep, his eyes bloodshot and wrinkled folds of skin were present under his eyelids. He finally slammed the last book he was reading closed and began speaking to himself.

"What can I do? Is there anything any of us can do?" Thinking for a moment his eyes widened, coming to a realization, "Yes, of course! It's a longshot but it may be our best option!" Pulling out the first journal, he opened it to a page that had the image of a mysterious, suited figure in old-fashioned garb with a single name inscripted, "Lord Walter Starnhorst". The next page had the illustration of an old Victorian mansion in disrepair and titled, "Starnhorst Manor".

Over at the Ciniplex Theatre in downtown, Dipper, Mabel, Grenda, Candy, Wendy, Pacifica, Thompson, Nate, Lee, Robbie, and Tambry were all watching a new film release, "Decimator: These Genocidal Robots Just Keep Coming Back!". One of the actors, a middle-aged man with blonde hair, spoke in his thick accent, "I'll be bach! vith veapons!"

"Kinda hard to believe this guy was the governor of our home state" Dipper whispered to Mabel.

"Yeah, and Dipper, I am holding you to your promise to see the next My Small Pony movie with me. What girl my age would possibly find this type of thing enjoyable?" Mabel asked her twin.

"Uhh, Mabel, I think you need to only look to your left for your answer." Dipper replied. His twin did so and her eyes widened. Grenda was really into the movie.

"Yeah! Smash it! Destroy them all!" The masculine girl called out to the screen in her deep voice, crushing a bag of popcorn in her grip and making Candy, who sat on her own left, cringe. Dipper felt a nudge on his shoulder and saw the Northwest girl on his right, wanting to whisper him something.

"For the record, I agree with Mabel."

"Yeah, yeah, I kinda figured." The young boy replied.

Back at the Mystery Shack, Grunkle Stan was showing a tour group through one of the back rooms, "And here we have an actual alien corpse, generously donated from Area 51!" The display was clearly a bunch of taxidermied animal parts with bits of an alien Halloween costume sewn together, but the clueless crowd was eating it up as they awed at the sight and took pictures. Grunkle Ford came rushing in, clearly having just come up from the lower levels. He was out of breath. Everyone turned to face him and Stan tried to come up with an excuse as he walked over to his twin.

"Uhhh… sorry folks, we have a bit of a drifter problem out here and sometimes they just wander in. This'll just be a minute. Come on, sir, I'll get you something to eat." Once in the next room Ford quickly moved out of his grip on his shoulders as he tried to usher him away.

"Listen, Stanley, we need to have another emergency meeting. Get the kids and your employees together on the double! This little fake museum junk is over for the day!"

"I'm with paying customers, pal! Whatever nerd thing this is, it can wait!" Stan retorted.

"It's about… Bill" Ford informed his brother, who's eyes widened at the realization.

"I'll… uh... I'll wrap up this last tour for the day then…" Stan nodded in understanding. Within the next half an hour Stan and the twins along with Wendy and Soos, and Waddles all sat at the table in the kitchen, with Ford standing to address them.

"All right, I've called you all here because I've decided there can be no more secrets. All of us here have a stake in the outcome of coming events, and dire consequences await if we aren't prepared to face them."

"Great Uncle Ford, what else can we possibly do? We shielded the shack from Bill's influence, and without knowing the full extent of his plans there isn't much else we can do right now, right?"

"Yes, Dipper, we did secure the shack, but the rest of the town remains vulnerable to Bill and his illusions." Ford replied.

"Well, what else can we do?" Wendy asked.

"Bill and his nefarious friends in his dimension are dangerous and mystical beings of unknown origin. If we want to continue evening the scales to increase our odds, I believe we will need to enlist the aid of a similar being from our own dimension. There may be a suitable candidate right here in these woods." Ford opened the first journal to the page with the mysteriously secretive man and showed it to the others.

"I don't know, brother, are you sure seeking out that place is wise?" Stan asked.

"What place?" Mabel asked as she cuddled Waddles. Stan elaborated.

"Deep in the darkest part of the woods north of the town is an old mansion. It's supposed to be older than every other place in the whole county, and it's guarded by stone walls and iron gates, and it looks like it's abandoned. But nobody who's ever trespassed inside has come back the same. Rumor has it an old recluse lives inside and never leaves. Very creepy place, haunted I bet."

"One time I went with Robbie, Tambry, Nate, and Lee up to that place. It gave us major creep vibes. Robbie tried to hop the fence but he couldn't make it. We decided to turn back, and probably for the best given all that we've seen this summer." Wendy commented.

"Oh it's indeed haunted, but it's not a place of evil. At least, nowhere near Bill evil. I journeyed to this place only once, it's called Starnhorst Manor. The owner is an immortal being of an incredible history, I met him and we talked for hours and hours. He refuses to join the outside world and as much as it saddened me he made me swear to reveal nothing about him and his followers in my published material. But in the end, he never betrayed me, and so I think we can safely go to him." Ford explained to everyone.

"Who is he, his name is Walter Starnhorst, right?" Dipper asked.

"He is an ancient man, and a vampire. I'm sure he would be willing to explain more. He is rather hospitable despite the stereotype for his kind."

"Eeeeep! A vampire!" Mabel was giddy at the possibility of meeting a real live vampire.

"Don't get your hopes up, Mabel. The guy is ancient after all." Stan rolled his eyes at the fantasy of his niece.

"Well, I suppose we should get going. The sooner the better, right?" Soos chimed in.

"The bell tolls for thee, your time is nigh. His will shall be done without weep or cry. The faithful will soon receive their just reward. It would not have been possible without the one you call Ford."

A/N: I sincerely would appreciate more reviews from any and all readers. I put a lot of thought into each chapter, and I value the thoughts of my audience.