Explain It Like I'm Tree

Roots

Note: I am trying to make sure this chapter is readable without having played the game, but if you are wondering, the Mystery Skulls are investigating the house from the game What Remains of Edith Finch. Events here are not canon to the game, it's just a personal theory about the family curse. That being said, there are probably spoilers for the game in this and the next chapter, ye be warned.

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"And that wraps up Vivi's Top Ten Reasons Why We Should Visit Gravity Falls Next." Vivi kept her hands on the steering wheel, but she managed to glance at Arthur out of the corner of her eye and flash her most winning smile. "Well?"

"Vivi, literally every single reason on that list is a good reason not to visit."

"Were you even listening?"

"Yeah, I was, and it sounds like supernatural weirdness permeates the whole town. Our group is still at the 'deals with localized hauntings' level. Like, one house at a time. No way do we have the experience necessary to investigate a whole town. It doesn't even sound like there's any one weird thing about it, it's like... fifty different weirdnesses."

"Fifty different 'localized' weirdnesses? Eh? Eh?" She tapped a finger on the steering wheel, hopefully. "We could take 'em one at a time!"

"More like fifty different weirdnesses that are probably in cahoots with each other. No way. Besides, a trip that far out would put serious strain on the bank account."

Sighing, she lifted her right hand off the steering wheel and extended it to Arthur. "Fine. Gimme compensatory snackage for emotional distress over missing out on all the coolness that is most certainly happening over there."

A chipotle flavored pickle landed in her hand. She sniffed it and wrinkled her nose. "Why does your mouth hate you?"

"You don't get to knock it before you've tried it. That's the rule."

Sticking her tongue out at him, she nibbled at the end of it. "Blech. I knock it. Take it back and gimme something good."

The pickle was plucked from her hand and replaced with a few chocolate coated coconut clusters. "Better," she said.

"You'll be diabetic by forty. Are we there yet?"

"And your tongue is gonna shrivel up into a prune next month." She popped a cluster in her mouth and glanced at the GPS. "Almost," she mumbled around bites. "Few more minutes. That might even be it up ahead."

Tangle-limbed greenery had shrouded the roadside view for miles. The GPS flicked between offline functioning and catching satellite properly. Ahead the road curved sharply to the left and down, but straight ahead was a dropoff. She couldn't make out too much, but there were branches poking up along the edge. Beyond those? A precarious tower.

Arthur shuddered. "Gods, I hope not. Looks like someone was playing jenga with whole life-sized linkin' log shacks."

"Cheer up, Squire. You can probably see where it's reinforced when we get in close. Wake Mystery, would you? Looks like a few more minutes of windy road, but we're almost there."

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Vivi craned her neck back hard as she took in the house from its front lawn. She didn't need Arthur to tell her she was looking at an untenable dwelling. What started off as a run-of-the-mill decrepit mansion took a hard curve up toward the sky on the right side. The right side jutted up through several layers of what looked like large, remodeled outdoor sheds stacked on top of each other and held up by wooden stilts and... and even...