Author Being Bex

However, as soon as he came out of his meditative focus, a sudden headache caused him to double over and grip the sides of his head.

His vision went dark, and he found himself in a spotlight, surrounded by eight figures that looked…identical in shape, except for one detail.

“What–”

The eyes of one of the figures flashed open, somehow glowing despite being dark brown.

Found you.

Abruptly, Sixer was back in his clearing, only to find that the frost he had been working to control had gotten out of control. Only, the frost hadn’t frozen the entire clearing.

Sixer looked down under him at the sigil the frost had formed – his sigil. The six-fingered hand with the six-tailed pinwheel behind it.

And then the identical eight sigils in a circle around him with one, two, three, four, five, seven, eight….

Sixer took it in, then summoned a blast of heat that melted the frost.

“Huh? Oh hey, Bex. What do you mean by that?”

“Huh? Oh hey, Bex. What do you mean by that?”

Bex blushed slightly. “Cause magical creatures like me tend to be a little excited when people notice them. I don’t get noticed normally so when someone does pay me attention in a good way it’s very flattering.” Boy was she feeling awkward. Suddenly words just didn’t wanna come out right. She groped for how she wanted to word it. “If a Ford put me in a journal I’d feel so…loved. not quite honored, but definitely happy.”

“You are essentially admitting that you are, in fact, a cryptid,” Sixer said after a moment. He didn’t quite sound like he knew what to make of that. Likely because he was cryptid-ish himself and he wasn’t too keen on being studied.

At least, not too keen on being studied in the way he himself had used to do things.

While Sixer hasn’t heard of a human shapeshifting, shapeshifting in general was an ability he’d heard of before. A human picking up that ability was an eventuality, perhaps.

Bex blushed slightly. “Cause magical creatures like me tend to be a little excited when people notice them. I don’t get noticed normally so when someone does pay me attention in a good way it’s very flattering.” Boy was she feeling awkward. Suddenly words just didn’t wanna come out right. She groped for how she wanted to word it. “If a Ford put me in a journal I’d feel so…loved. not quite honored, but definitely happy.”

“You are essentially admitting that you are, in fact, a cryptid,” Sixer said after a moment. He didn’t quite sound like he knew what to make of that. Likely because he was cryptid-ish himself and he wasn’t too keen on being studied.

At least, not too keen on being studied in the way he himself had used to do things.

“Hmmm that might be another thing to investigate,” Bex said, “It’s not something mundane, as far as I can tell. it might be my powers or it might be something else. Or there could be someone secretly telling people about my kind ahead of us.”

She was surprised however, that most of what people heard about her was neutral if not flat out good. If someone was telling people about Author Beings then they didn’t wish her any harm.

“Your powers or rumors of such people existing, perhaps. You could be included among Gravity Falls’ list of cryptids for all you know.” Sixer gave her a cheeky grin.

Before he found out Cipher’s true nature, more like.

“Hmmm that might be another thing to investigate,” Bex said, “It’s not something mundane, as far as I can tell. it might be my powers or it might be something else. Or there could be someone secretly telling people about my kind ahead of us.”

She was surprised however, that most of what people heard about her was neutral if not flat out good. If someone was telling people about Author Beings then they didn’t wish her any harm.

“Your powers or rumors of such people existing, perhaps. You could be included among Gravity Falls’ list of cryptids for all you know.” Sixer gave her a cheeky grin.

“I think in some worlds a person or some people have innate knowledge of Author Beings, but it only shows when they encounter them,” She shrugged, “Not all worlds, but some are like that.”

“Yes! And I like to let some deviation happen as long as it’s not threatening the world,” She smirked, “Yes I have been to Gravity Falls a few times actually. One of my times there an alien race called the Goa’uld were crossing over and trying to turn people into slaves and hosts. Another time, I was just chillin, watching the weird things happen.

“Gravity Falls is a nice place for people like me, I’m weird even without my powers.”

“Deviation is what makes the multiverse interesting, considering all the different reactions that certain events can cause for the inhabitants,” Sixer commented knowingly. “Although, some deviants might be a little less nice than others.”

“Yes! And I like to let some deviation happen as long as it’s not threatening the world,” She smirked, “Yes I have been to Gravity Falls a few times actually. One of my times there an alien race called the Goa’uld were crossing over and trying to turn people into slaves and hosts. Another time, I was just chillin, watching the weird things happen.

“Gravity Falls is a nice place for people like me, I’m weird even without my powers.”

“Deviation is what makes the multiverse interesting, considering all the different reactions that certain events can cause for the inhabitants,” Sixer commented knowingly. “Although, some deviants might be a little less nice than others.”

Bex nodded at the mention of a connecting dimension. It was certainly something to look into, when she had the time. “If you find answers to that, tell me, would ya? I’d like to know as well.” Then she thought of something else. “Normally I make up my own, and with my shifting abilities I can hide, since I can’t actually take another human form, or even change my eye color. That’s why I like animals, they are often looked over, and so I can hide until I find anomalies–things that aren’t supposed to be there or lost people I can return.” Usually when she found something that didn’t belong, that’s when she needed someone from the world to help.

“I’ll see if I can find anything, but no promises,” Sixer replied.

Bex nodded at the mention of a connecting dimension. It was certainly something to look into, when she had the time. “If you find answers to that, tell me, would ya? I’d like to know as well.” Then she thought of something else. “Normally I make up my own, and with my shifting abilities I can hide, since I can’t actually take another human form, or even change my eye color. That’s why I like animals, they are often looked over, and so I can hide until I find anomalies–things that aren’t supposed to be there or lost people I can return.” Usually when she found something that didn’t belong, that’s when she needed someone from the world to help.

“I’ll see if I can find anything, but no promises,” Sixer replied.

Night time was predominant in Junction, even when the sun rose. Stars seemed to always shine, and planets could be seen in the sky at most times. This night however was alight with a full moon, and the sun was absent. Bits of starlight reached Bex through gaps in the forest canopy. Her hide, though bright, only shined when the light reached it. 

Bex concentrated on the darkness ahead while picking her way through the underbrush. She could hear night birds chirping nearby and a few small animals making nests in the bushes, but no enemies. With a sigh, she trudged forward to the next portal.

“No, not a little dinky place where things leak out…” Bex shook her head, “a hub, an overworld…something like that. It’s a place my friends called ‘Junction’ where many portals lie to other worlds. It’s both part of my dimension and part of all others, and yet …not.” she had no idea how to describe it. It seemed like a nearly endless place to her and she was still exploring its lands. “I prefer to be involved more than manipulative, yes,” she blushed, “I like to a be a hero and a friend before a god. In fact I HATE it when people will liken me to one. That’s probably why I’ll mostly go by an alias, or flat-out hide in the background.”

“Junction…interesting. I don’t think I’ve heard of such a place before. It sounds more like a central dimension connecting multiple dimensions together instead of the crawlspace between them. It could be at the center of the multiverse, or at the center of a certain number of dimensions that you’re only allowed to have access to. Hmm…that would be something to look into later.”

Bex screwed her face up at that, she didn’t see herself as doing anything for her own benefit in those days, which made it even worse that another of her kind enforced the null cuff on her. She decided to let it go, there was no use in dwelling on her days in depression just to prove a point. “I spend my childhood going from my world to a sort of in-between one, where I learned the ins and outs,” she said instead. “a lot of people came from their own worlds and mingled. I didn’t have my author powers then, at least not able to use them, but they must have sensed something in me, because they taught me what was right.”

“Most of my friends, and honorary family for that matter, were training me to be more of an adventurer. Taht’s where I learned my magic and fighting skills.”

“In-between?” Sixer repeated. “Not the crawlspace of the Nightmare Realm, I hope. Or a dimension with thin enough walls for it to leak through, for that matter.”

That thought was definitely worrisome.

“Those are questions I’m still finding answers to,” she said, “and yeah I have encountered many who don’t take my powers well, so normally I use an alias. I just feel you’re mature enough to handle it.”

“Plus, my kind have rules among ourselves that keep us from using our powers for Ill— I was once fitted with a collar that nullified my powers because the others thought I was too free spirited.” She shivered remembering those days. “It didn’t go well. I went crazy because I felt trapped and broke it, creating some…phenomena. I was able to keep it in check because of the emotional support of friends.”

…Sixer was going to chalk that “maturity” up to the fact that Cipher had turned his home dimension on its head and he’d learned to adapt.