Return of Cipher (Hatters!AU: Return to the Falls)

Chapter IV: Summertime Sadness

Author's Notes:

Used my small knowledge of funerals from my grandpa's funeral for this chapter, although I dunno how cremations work so I'm probably wrong about this part lmao

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Chapter Started: 1/28/23

Chapter Finished: 2/13/23

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July 2021

Gravity Falls, Oregon

Dipper

Well, it's finally time to say goodbye.

Our strange guests left the shack in the morning without even so much as a goodbye, but we thought nothing of it and just got dressed as usual. We got in the car and drove to the church, both of us quiet and solemn.

We arrived at the church, looking around for anybody we recognized. Practically nobody had shown up, aside from us and the priest in the corner of the room, who was seemingly waiting for people to arrive. We sat in the very front, Mabel struggling to not cry as the priest said his speech. As he was making his speech, memories of Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford began to play through my head, but the memories were somewhat strange for me. The first memory I had was our first day at the Shack, then I thought of all the fun we had on our various visits. Eventually, the memories became more obscure and strange, as I recalled all those strange times Grunkle Stan had been up late, searching the house and attempting to call strange people on the phone. As sad as it was to think about the memories, there was also something odd about those nights, and part of me felt that the paranormal fiends we had faced in the past were far from gone. I tried to shake the feeling, but it wouldn't shake until Mabel shook me by the shoulder to get my attention. I looked at her, and she gave me a simple nod to signal that we were heading to the cremation part of the ceremony. I sighed, and we headed over there for our last goodbyes.

After they had been cremated, Mabel and I decided to take a walk through the graveyard to calm our emotions. Mabel suddenly fell to her knees and cried, and I knelt down next to her and rubbed her back, trying to be reassuring. As I comforted her, I noticed something odd in the distant graveyard, more specifically a young man with a black umbrella (which was odd, considering the lack of rain) seemingly watching us as a young woman next to him left roses at a gravestone, a little boy in a propeller cap crying loudly next to her. I nudged Mabel slightly and she looked at me from her kneeling position, eyes red and nose sniffly.

"What is it?" Mabel asked in-between sobs.

"There's something strange about those people over there." I pointed to the strange trio I had noticed earlier, the man still staring.

Mabel poked her head over the graves in front of us to see them. "He's staring at us. What about it?"

"Something's not right about them. I'm gonna go talk to them."

"What about—"

"The funeral's over. I'm sure their spirits, if they're out there, won't be mad if we leave to go investigate."

Mabel nodded, wiping her nose on her arm. "You're right. I suppose we can talk to those people for a little bit."

I hugged and patted her on the back. "It'll be okay, I promise. We'll get their urns, and everything will be over."

When we separated, Mabel and I started walking over to the people, curious as to why they were watching us. I just hope this isn't any more paranormal nonsense...

~

Lucky

As I knelt in front of the grave, pretending to look depressed about the death of someone I'd never met in my life, Bendy wailed and cried in a cartoonishly exaggerated manner, as Blackhat kept a lookout for the two twins. I hit Bendy on the shoulder lightly with the back of my hand.