"There is nothing you have that I want," Bill muttered, stepping closer to me. My foot moved back, ready to jump away from him if I needed to, but he came within a few feet and something in me said it was a safe distance. There was no need to worry if he was that close, only if he touched me should I run. Dipper had always told me to rely on my instincts, no matter how strange they may be, when it came to the demon, so I did. I trusted the small voice and held my ground.

"Well, that's what I'd like to say," he continued slowly, looking over my form. "But I'm sure we both know that's entirely wrong. Don't we, doll?" He grinned predatorily and I cringed. He was right, of course. There were a whole score of things he could have wanted from me. But I knew the only one he would resort to a human body for. There were only so many ways to take part of a soul after all.

I returned his look with a cold stare and crossed my arms. I was not in the mood, which wasn't unusual, and this was a bad time to do this. I hated when he pulled me away from either of the twins and now was the worst time to do it. They didn't know about any of this yet, that he wanted part of my soul or that he had a corporeal body. I hadn't been able to tell them with everything that was happening. All they knew was some man had come and asked for me. Some man I apparently knew so well that he knew exactly where I was when I hadn't told anyone.

"I already told you, I refuse to split my soul! Nothing you can-"

"That's not what this is about. Yes, it would be nice if you would do that for me and someday you'll know why. Someday, you will do it for me or you will give me all of you, but not today. There are bigger things we need to discuss, things you'll be grateful that I took the time out of my busy schedule to tell you." He waved a hand in the air, blue sparks flying into the air as a glass appeared in his hand. He extended it toward me. I shook my head quickly, knowing full well what in it, and cringed as the smell hit me in my face. Why he drank alcohol at midday was something I couldn't understand.

He shrugged and sipped at it, looking up to the sky. It was like he was waiting for me to snap back at him with some witty comment. I couldn't bring myself to say anything. I was too busy pondering over his words. If there was anything about him that I could trust, it was his words. He had never lied to me. When he wasn't honest, it was because he'd only told half-truths.

What did he mean, though? As I was, there was no way I would ever give him any part of my soul under any circumstance and there was very little that could change that, short of saving my life. There shouldn't have been any way that would happen. Then there was the matter of his reasons for wanting it. He wouldn't tell me, no matter how I pried or argued, so why would he say I would know? Unless he was waiting for a time to tell me, which I didn't doubt. It was actually fairly good leverage on me and even though I knew about it, if he used it I would probably give in. It was something I needed to know.

Bill sighed and pulled me out of my thoughts. I brought my focus back to him, narrowing my eyes. "What is it then? If it's oh so important to me, tell me. Don't just say something like that and then not say anything."

"Why don't we go indoors for this conversation? It's not safe out here." His grin dropped entirely and his tone became serious. My eyes widened in astonishment. He was rarely ever that serious with me, with anyone really. Even with Dipper only had him as a snarky, playful villain.

He didn't wait for me to agree, probably knowing I would follow him anyways, and started off towards the woods. Seeing him move, I started after him, jogging until I got close enough that I was sure he wouldn't get too far ahead of me. He stayed quiet for the whole walk and took a way I already knew for the most part, stopping a few times to change directions. It was like he was checking to see if we were being followed. He'd said it wasn't safe but I didn't think anyone would follow us into the woods of all places.

We stopped at an abandoned mansion I hadn't seen before. It made me wonder just how deep in the woods we were and where, exactly, he had taken me. Bill nudged the door with his foot and it opened effortlessly to reveal the foyer. There was dusty furniture everywhere ranging from couches and love seats to vases and tables. Only one loveseat was left in a more or less pristine condition and it sat with its back to the fireplace in the far side of the room. It was a sort of deep pink that reminded me of roses that grew in my grandmother's back yard.

That was where Bill went, taking his seat gingerly as though he was worried it would break if he moved too fast. He crossed one leg over the other and folded his hand over his knee, waiting for me to take a seat. Not wanting to be beside him, I patted down the couch diagonal from him and perched at the very edge. I couldn't be too careful, I decided. I would be ready to run at any moment.

He made no comment, only looked at me. I thought he looked a bit hurt. Part of me said to adjust what might have been an error and take the seat next to him but it couldn't win out against the rest of me. I squashed the feeling down and gave him the most passive look I could muster.

"What was so dangerous that we had to come all the way here to talk?"

"…Something you don't need to worry about. Just be careful with what you say and to who you say it."

There was something off about that statement, considering who was saying it, but I shrugged it off. Recently, I had become much more important to him than either of us could have guessed. It was bound to have to do with that.

"Fine. Why are we here?"

Bill gazed around the room for a moment and I followed where his eyes stopped. There was a portrait hanging above the stairs that I hadn't even given a cursory glance. Given the dust on everything, the picture must have been well preserved. The colors still had their vividness and the paint didn't seem to crack at all.

It depicted a lady with a large smile. She looked a lot like I had when I was twelve and made me think, for a second, that this was made for him just to tick me off. When I looked closer, however, there was no way that could have been true. She was definitely older, about as old as I was now, and wearing a dress I wouldn't have been able to without an obscene amount of makeup. The cut of it showed the very top of her chest and most of her arms. Everything highlighted the accessory around her neck.

I stood slowly, my eyes staying on the painting. It was annoyingly familiar and the longer I looked at it, the more it felt like a mirror. The deep brown eyes of the lady matched mine and felt like they were looking directly at me. It was like it was beckoning to me. The smile that had seemed so peaceful made me feel anxious. I started towards it, taking the stairs with care, until I was in front of it.

"Who are you?" I muttered softly, reaching out to touch it. My fingers stopped just above the canvas. I couldn't risk destroying it by feeling over it. Someone had to have gone to great lengths to keep it the way it was. Instead, I took everything in with my eyes. From every stroke of the brush to the texture of the canvas, I tried to memorize the painting, only stopping when it came to her neck.

It wasn't pearls or diamonds she wore on her neck. It was gold. The chains hanging from the fabric of a choker were unmistakable, even in a painting. The charm embedded in the center, even, was pure golden. Pure golden and so familiar it made my heartache and my hand reach up to let my fingers brush over my neck. It suddenly felt naked, like there was something that was supposed to be there. I turned from the portrait, ready to go back before anything else arose in me, but found myself running right into Bill.

He didn't laugh when I started tearing up and he didn't try to hold me. He just stood there and waited, like he had so many times already, showing the most patience I had ever seen him show. When I finally stopped and wiped away the wetness around my eyes, able to breathe steadily again, he spoke.

"Her name was Charity Dawson. She was daughter to a man of a wealthy company and well loved by almost everyone that knew her. She was a lot like you, societal standards aside. Though, she wasn't as easy to torture as you." I glared up at him but he didn't seem to notice. His eyes were on the portrait. It was almost like he couldn't see anything else.

"That's beside the point. I brought you here to see her, and to give you something of her's. It would have been passed down your family line the way she wanted but someone, and I won't say who because I know you can figure that on your own. You're not so dim that you need me to tell you everything. But someone took it from her and hid it. I went through hell to get it back, almost literally.

"It's yours now. Charity would have wanted it that way. It'll keep you… Safe isn't the right word but you won't die quite as easily and I'm sure you'll appreciate the feeling you get from it." He raised his hand and from the blue flames pulled the necklace that had made me feel so bare. I gave him a skeptical look, shying away. I didn't want to wear it. I didn't want to have it. He could have done something with it.

I didn't have a choice though. He moved behind me and had it circling my neck before I could get any further away. He clipped it, a bit hesitantly like he didn't want me to have it despite his words, and pulled my hair from under it. Bill's hands lingered just above my shoulders for a moment before he gave them a quick, light squeeze and backed away. I turned to look at him, reaching back to try and unclasp it.

I felt whole for once, like there wasn't anything the matter with me, and it was weird. I couldn't stand it. I had wanted it for so long, yes, but now that I had it I couldn't handle it. I didn't want that feeling from something Bill had put on me. I wanted it from myself, from my own actions.

"Grace," he said a bit hoarsely. "Please."

Slowly, I brought my hand back down. I couldn't do it in front of him, not when he sounded like that. I didn't think he could ever be hurt in any way. Even though he'd done so many horrible things to me, I just couldn't bring myself to hurt him like that. At least, not right now. Not when he was being open and completely vulnerable. When he was like this, I could remember that he, his soul at least, was once human too. Not just any human either. His soul was a fraction of Dipper's and I could never hurt him like this.

"Alright. I'll keep it on for now." I could have died from the smile he gave me. It was uncharacteristically bright and pure. It was a Dipper smile, not a Bill smile. To think that he could still smile like that after everything his soul went through was ridiculous but also sort of nice. It warmed my heart despite me not wanting it to.

"Thank you. It means more to me than you think."

[-/u\-]

A cough wracked my body and I groaned out loudly. My eyepatch was gone and I could see perfectly but I wished I couldn't. Above me stood Alioth, grinning like a psychopath with his sharp teeth showing. My blood was all up and down his arms, splattered lightly on his shirt, but that wasn't something for me to worry about. I was in no shortage of that. At worst I would get pushed into my triangle form and have to deal with him from there instead.

"Pathetic," he said. His voice was low and echoy, the way mine was in the mindscape. It had always been that way no matter where that star demon went. "Even in a fight for that soul you love so much, you can't do any better than that. I thought you loved her. So much for that."

I wanted so badly to get up and throw him to the ground. He was acting as though I didn't really love her, love her soul. I couldn't blame him though. I had never acted like I did, not even when it was Charity. I had acted like a gentlemen to her but never that I loved her. I couldn't do that. Oh, I had always wanted to but I didn't know how and now that I did, I couldn't. Charity was gone. She was Grace now, a different person altogether and devoted to what I once was.

Alioth gave a laugh and landed a kick in my side. It hurt and as much as I wanted to laugh, I couldn't bring myself to do it. For the first time in a very long time, I felt like I should give up. Facing off against humans was easy. They were simple and predictable. Not like demons. Demons were such a pain to fight, which is why I rarely did.

"Really, you should have known that this is what was going to happen. You know so many things, you should know that you can't beat me. You never could. Not when I got rid of that stupid necklace you gave her and not now. And now she'll die without it and I can take her. Her soul is all mine, Cipher."

It hurt but I couldn't help it. I had to laugh. He didn't know and that was just too great. Alioth's eyes narrowed and his grin turned into a snarl. He moved to give me another kick and I rolled away from him. Standing slowly and on shaky legs, I began to smile.

"You're… A complete idiot, aren't you? You're bonded to her and you haven't even checked in? What kind of husband are you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"She has it. It's around her neck right now. You can't do anything to her. She is safe and she will always be. You can't have Grace or her soul. She—is—mine." I could feel my voice growing stronger with every word until every part of me was back at full. I knew exactly what was doing this. Grace was sleeping and she really hadn't taken it off.

Alioth backed up a few steps, his eyes growing wider than normal. He knew what was happening and exactly what this meant. The bond her had tricked her into so long ago couldn't stand to what I had done. He had her strength at all times but it didn't take much. It was a bond by a deal that she was resistant to. They weren't close, and they never had been.

We were close though and bound by anything but a bond. Promises, I had discovered, were stronger than forced bonds. Promises were consensual and, if they meant enough to a person, carried over with a strong soul. Charity was prominent in the composition of Grace's soul. She made up a better portion of it, enduring through a lot more than most hosts of souls ever did. With her was the promise she was still upholding whether the host body liked it or not.

No longer feeling the need to deal with him, I put Alioth into chains. It did make things easier, after all, and I had the strength to do it now. He glared at me with more intensity he had in the past few weeks.

"Don't think that you've won just because of some silly little trinket you gave her over hundreds of years ago. The cycle will just repeat. You'll fall for the host, I'll sweep them away, and you'll be unable to deal with the aftermath. Nothing has changed just because you chained me up again, Cipher."

"On the contrary. I've won because you're chained. Look around you, Alioth. No one is here to help you and no one is here to stop me from using this." I pulled a glowing yellow ball from the mindscape and held it carefully in both hands.

Just touching it sent a whole array of thoughts in my head. I could do anything with this. I could get Charity back. I could destroy the Pines family. I could have the entire world begging at my feet. Everything could be mine with just a simple phrase.

But I had better plans for it.

"You see, a time wish like this can do anything. I could remove you're whole existence. I could stop all of this from happening. There's no good in that though. I do owe you some credit after all. Without you, I wouldn't have Grace. So I'm going to be merciful." I smiled at him briefly. He deserved the worst punishment I could think of.

"I'm going to wish you out of her future. Not just Grace's. No, that would be lenient. Her soul's future. You'll never see it again. Don't worry though. I'll take good care of it."

[-/o\-]

"Bill Cipher, I demand you tell me how to take this thing off. I've been trying since I got home and it won't come off for the life of me! Dipper is freaking out thinking that it's some heinous device you put on me and Mabel will not stop making weird jokes about it." Grace stomped on the ground and waved her arms around dramatically as she talked, emotions clear as day on her face. I couldn't help but laugh at her.

"I don't think so, doll. That necklace is staying on you until you die."

She pouted and pleaded for the better part of an hour, giving me more than one hundred reasons why she couldn't wear it, including that it would be hard to bathe with. She tried so hard to convince me that she wouldn't get rid of it; that she would just keep it in a drawer or on her nightstand, but I wouldn't accept it.

"If it's such a big deal, I'll go explain it to them myself. They seem to know everything now," I said with a grin, patting her head.

"I can only keep big things a secret for so long… I tired of lying and worrying them all the time. You're not making it any easier either. Just tell me how to get it off!"

With a sigh, I reached over and unclasped it. I wondered if she really had that hard of a time finding it since it wasn't exactly in the middle. Grace gave a relieved sigh and pulled it away from her neck carefully, rubbing over where the bottom edge had been with her free hand.

"Thank you," she muttered softly. "You're still going to explain it though. I want to watch you struggle to get them to trust you with me."

"Of course. Anything for you, doll."