Five years.
That is how long Mabel Pines had been researching, practicing, and summoning, trying to capture a demon of unimaginable power.
Why would she waste her time on something so silly and impractical?
Five years ago, her dear brother, Dipper Pines, had been whisked away from his home by this demon of gold. No one could have possibly predicted the turnout of all the events that lead up to that day and it had left Mabel in despair. She was desperate to get her brother back and slowly her life went downhill around her.
Her parents saw a bright future for her in a good college, but her grades in her last two years of highschool plummeted due to her lack of sleep, lack of communication with her peers and her slacking on her assignments. She would've been lucky to get into a community college that accepted everyone, but she dropped college. Instead, she moved in with her great uncle Stan and worked at the shop, still researching on her free time.
Her relationship with Pacifica was strong and pure but as she grew distant, it all faltered and finally, they broke apart. Pacifica still kept in touch for she still loved her, always trying to talk her out of her work and telling her to move on, but it never worked. She would always say she was close. She could feel it, she just needed to get better.
She did indeed get better and better, but Bill seemed to get stronger and stronger, always a step ahead of her. It frustrated her, but it also motivated her. He would slip up one day and she knew he would. Everyone and everything makes mistakes, but the waiting killed her on the inside.
What she didn't know is through her magic and spells, she'd caught the eye of certain demon. He'd been watching her for the past few months and experienced her suffering, her loss, her joy, and her determination. She was quite a peculiar thing to him with a bubbly personality she kept hidden now days. She intrigued him in all the right ways and he couldn't help himself from visiting her at nights.
She'd often stay up too long for her body's own good and he'd do the favor of putting her to sleep. He'd bring a blanket over her curled up body and he'd stroke her long brown locks of hair, even if his hand would go right through her.
She was really a sweet girl and he knew who she was trying to get. As much as he wanted to help, he wasn't sure if it'd be wise to stand up to the demon of gold. He was older, wiser, and definitely stronger than himself. It would have been a fool's thought to even think about helping her, but as he watched this little girl spend her precious, sacred human days trying to summon that demon, he started to feel something for her. It was a very beautiful feeling, so intoxicating and mesmerising. Unable to resist the temptation, he gave into that small feeling, letting it consume his angular body all the way to the core.
Once he let it take over, he wasn't able to talk himself out of helping her. He had sealed his fate.
Mabel lay on her bed, chewing her pen and reading over a spell she'd read many times before, practically having it memorized by heart. Her eyelids were drooping, but she refused to sleep. Not yet at least.
She reached to her nightstand to grab her cup of Mabel juice, but her hand missed and knocked the cup over. With a curse she snapped her head over to the now spilt cup, but it was apparently frozen in mid air a few centimeters from the ground, the world draining of all color and turning a dull grey.
She remembered this happening when Bill appeared before he had a body so she prepared for the encounter with this demon. What she wasn't prepared for was a purple square. Why was it always shapes?
He floated down to her and she sat up, crossing her legs. Straightening his tie, he tipped his floating bowler hat to her.
"Hello Mabel Pines. I am Tad Strange." The bottom of his eye creased upwards, as if he were smiling. "It's positively wonderful to finally meet you in person."
She bit the inside of her cheek. Why was he here? "What do you want, Tad?"
"I want to make a deal with you." He clasped his miniature hands together.
She leaned away from him. She's had experiences with demons and deals before. "I'd rather not."
He seemed confused at first but then his eye widened and he waved his hands in front of him. "No no! I want to help you, not cheat you. You don't even have to offer your body or soul."
Mabel pursed her lips and furrowed her eyebrows. Why would he want to help her? Weren't all demons the same? Greedy and selfish? She wanted to shoo him away, but she was curious...and she did need the help whether she wanted to admit it or not.
"Then tell me, what's the deal?" The words came out without her knowledge. He looked relieved to hear the question.
"You do a little tiny thing for me and I'll get your brother back."
"Tiny could be huge for me. What do you want me to do exactly?"
He wrung his hands out and looked away from her. What he had in mind would probably be a little gorish for her taste. "I need you to help me find a host."
"I think I'll just stick with what I'm doing. No one is going to give their body up to a demon and I'm not that desperate." She picked up her book.
"I know, which is why you'll build me one. You know how to do magic, I'm sure a little necromancy wouldn't hurt you- and no one is going to miss the body or organs since they're already dead!"
Mabel scowled. He wanted her to work with blood, organs and a rotting body? And how could she be so sure he wouldn't just screw her over and leave with the body after?
Tad fidgeted at the uncertainty on her face. "Listen. The body is to help you."
"How can I trust you?"
"You'll just have to- but I'm a quadrilateral multidimensional being of my word. I promise I will help you if you do this for me."
"So I get you a body and you'll get my brother back?"
"That's the jist of it."
Mabel stared up at him. He was glowing brightly and his tiny hands were clasped in front of him again. He may have been a demon but there was something about him the Mabel felt like she could trust. Something pure among the impure.
The main question was, how powerful was he? Obviously he and Bill came from the same plane of existence so he must have had some power.
"And you won't... Screw me over?"
"The day I double cross you is the day I have curves and an extra eye."
She smiled at that, but went serious again. She looked down at her hands, which clenched into fists. If she made this deal, she would definitely get her brother back, but it confused her as to why he would help her. Especially since he was up against someone like Bill Cipher. He could've ask for a body from someone else who would've asked for something much easier in return.
Her eyes flicked back up to the demon, "Why do you want to help me?"
"Because..." He trailed off, tapping his fingers together, his color starting to fade into a deep magenta. "I like you. You're a nice gal and I... want to help."
She blinked at that answer. Because he liked her. That last time she heard about a demon liking someone, that someone got kidnapped and had induced Stockholm syndrome.
"I'm going to have to say no, please go away now."
"Oh but Mabel, you know you can't get your brother back on your own."
"I'm not on my own. Stan is helping. I don't need the help of a demon." She hissed at the end.
His arms dropped and his brightness dimmed. With a sigh he floated downward to the cup that had yet to fall. "You know, everyday he gets stronger. You're wasting your time with what you're doing and by the time you decide you more need help, it'll be too late." He moved the glass up, catching all the juice that was stuck in mid air with the cup. Setting it on the nightstand, he turned to her, "at least think about it. Okay?"
"Yeah whatever. Thanks for stopping by."
"I'm just a call away.* and with that, he was gone, color flooding into the world.
Madel sat still in the spot for the longest while, thinking about that demon and his proposal. Maybe she should have made that deal. If he was right, the time to get her brother back was shortening and with her progress, she knew she wasn't getting anywhere.
With a sigh, she closed her book, dug under the covers and turned off the light. She'd just sleep on it, and hopefully in the morning, she'd know what to do.