The Academy

A Council of Cats

"So, Pharaoh Yosira, we--" Kephra stopped speaking as somebody banged on the council room doors. Sighing, the other council members raised their heads to stare at the sliding gateway.

"Dimiri? Who is it?" called Kephra from the dais.

Someone pounded on the door once more, and suddenly, a grappling hook flew through the sheet metal. Every cat of the council sat back in their chairs as the metal fell, revealing three figures in the falling dust.

Kephra licked his dusty tan fur, still keeping his gaze on the doorway. "Yosira, I apologize. We will have Dimiri-" he pointed to the blue-skinned man with one paw, "escort the cause of the disturbance away.." He trailed off as the young Pharaoh Yosira stood up, adjusting her tall purple headdress.

"Come in." The young ruler's voice echoed throughout the room, directed towards the three dirty intruders.

Kephra leaned forward as the mysterious people walked forward. "Is that... Cleopatra?!?!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dipper adjusted his favorite cap, a blue and white hat with a pine tree on the front. Taking a deep breath, he followed Mabel and Cleopatra into the cavernous council room.

Upon entering, he watched as Cleopatra sank into a deep bow, the corners of her red bodysuit-like school dress touching the floor.

Dipper glanced up and noticed a young girl about their age approaching them. She wore a set of purple robes, varying in gradient shades of deep purple to light lavender. A golden touch on her purple headdress signified that she was royalty.

Mabel didn't notice any of this. Pocketing her grappling hook, she bounded up to the pharaoh and shook her hand vigorously. "My name's Mabel, and that's my dorky brother Dipper. We came here using time travel. Isn't that awesome?" She continued to jabber away as Dipper facepalmed for the second time in the last few hours.

"Apologies, my queen," said Cleopatra. "From what Dipper here has told me, the twins used a box similar to a measuring tape that can pull you through time to get here. However, it was a pure accident that they ended up so many planets away from Earth, and the box has gone missing. They can't get back to their family."

Dipper stepped forward hesitantly, bowing his head. He pulled his orange t-shirt down beneath his vest, feeling the bulk of Journal 3 inside it. "I apologize for the behavior of my sister, miss. It's just, Mabel's always been the more 'creative' twin, for lack of a better word." Dipper paused, trying to figure out how on earth to explain their situation. "We came to a place called Gravity Falls, which is on Earth, to visit our family during the summer of the year 2012. If we don't return soon, we'll be presumed dead."

Pharaoh Yosira smiled. "Don't worry about.. Mabel.. I find her extremely fun. I understand now the purpose of your breaking in to our meeting, and I can assure Kephra that I am not worried in the slightest." She approached Dipper slowly and knelt down next to him. "I will do everything in my power to help you get back," she said, lowering her voice to a whisper.

Dipper smiled gratefully up at her as Yosira stood up once more. He couldn't believe the pharaoh of the galaxy actually believed him! A sudden thought struck him, and he pulled out the journal. Turning away from the scene ensuing as Cleo apologized to the young woman, Dipper pulled Mabel aside.

"What is it, DipDop?" said Mabel, still bouncing around.

"I'm going to record everything we find out here in the journal. Who knows, the author might find it useful!" cried Dipper excitedly.

The clearing of a tiny cat throat attracted their attention, and they turned around slowly, Dipper pocketing the journal once more.

"We have determined that, for the time being, you may stay here at the academy. Cleopatra will help you acclimate, as she has just been through a similar situation to what you have experienced. Now, we need to continue our meeting," finished Kephra.

Dipper nodded and turned to leave, practically dragging Mabel with him.

"That was amazing!!!!" gushed Mabel.

Cleo rolled her eyes. "You're lucky. The council is rarely so generous..."

Dipper whipped around suddenly. "Wait, when were you going to tell us the council was a group of talking cats?!?!"

Mabel and Cleo stared at him before bursting into deep laughter. "Yeah, laugh all you want," sighed Dipper.

His twin sister punched him on the shoulder. "Don't worry. I'm sure everything will be great here!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dimiri sighed as he watched the retreating shadows of the three people. What has Cleo gotten herself into now?