Bill left a trail of mud and blood to the living room where Mabel sat him down with a fresh, dry blanket and a cup of tea she had originally been brewing for herself. For a moment, the demon-now-human looked like he was about to make a snarky remark or say something detestable. A smile played at his lips but it faded quickly and the look in his eyes betrayed just how tired he was. Dipper felt bad and he knew Mabel did as well. Sure the guy had tried to destroy the entire world just for fun, but the twins weren't cruel enough to find pleasure in the misfortune of an admittedly terrible being.
"We should get Grunkle Stan and Ford." Dipper said to Mabel.
"Sixer…?" Bill asked and Dipper noticed how he perked up at his name, "He's here?"
"This is his house." Dipper said and crossed his arms over his chest.
Bill opened his mouth, a word just on the tip of his tongue, but then he closed it without having uttered even the first sound. It was strange of him. The demon – was he still a demon? – had never really known when to shut up. He didn't have much of a verbal filter either, which made him irritating very fast. Why were things different now? It was obvious the guy had been through something terrible but something about him also seemed really off…
"I'll go get them." Mabel said, patting Dipper's back as she walked by, "You stay with him."
"I'm not in much of a condition to run, Shooting Star." Bill said and Dipper started seeing the fragments of his old personality reappear. "If you didn't notice."
Mabel ignored him and made her way to the basement. Stan was just next door and Ford was the one who would likely have the worst reaction. She would need time to calm him down or get him to be sensible. But was it really so unreasonable to want to kick out the man – the thing that had tried to annihilate the human race? Still, looking at Bill wearing an exceptionally gorgeous human body in the condition he was, Dipper knew he would never be able to bring himself to chase him out.
"You going to keep staring at me like that, kid?" Bill asked with a hint of annoyance.
"Well…yeah." Dipper answered. He then took a step closer and looked the blond over like he was one of the strangest things he had ever seen – and, in a sense, he was. "I don't understand how you look like…that."
"You did this to me." Bill said bitterly, "Four years ago, when you 'defeated' me."
"We thought we killed you." Dipper admitted.
"Yeah, well, you didn't." Bill retorted.
Just then they heard Ford angrily yell from the basement. The only word Dipper managed to hear properly was the initial "WHAT!?" and the rest was just jibber jabber. They stayed quiet and tried listening to the rant Ford had launched himself into, speaking far too fast to distinguish the breaks between words. Mabel was going to have a hell of a time calming him down.
"Be honest with me, kid." Bill said, his tone much different from before. His enervation dripped with his every spoken word. He was really tired. "What are the odds he sends me packing?"
"If Mabel weren't the one dealing with him right now, I'd say incredibly high." Dipper admitted and sat down on the sofa chair.
"So…?" He asked, urging him to continue.
"So they're not as high now." Dipper said unhelpfully, "Don't get your hopes up just because she's Mabel. There are some things even she can't pull off."
Heavy stomps that only could have been Ford's sounded as he climbed out of the basement, Mabel following a step behind. He looked positively pissed off, eyes beaming with rage and his hands clenched in fists. Bill noticed how he was running a high risk of getting punched and tried to stand but he fell back with a slight wince of pain. Dipper noted how he didn't find pain as funny as he used to. Something had big had definitely happened to him.
Just as they got into the living room, the door leading to the Shack's shop opened and Stan came in, taking off his fez with an exhausted sigh. "Boy, I tell you those guys would—" he interrupted himself when he saw the naked man sitting on his sofa and his pissed off brother in the opposing doorway. "What the—"
"Oh good," Mabel sighed with a forced laugh, "I'm so glad you came on your own."
"What—" he tried, but Ford interrupted him as he marched over to Bill.
"You have one minute to explain how the hell you're still alive!" he snapped at him.
"Honestly, Sixer, I'm going to need more than a minute." Bill said and Dipper thought it was the worst time possible for the demon – human? – to get his old personality back.
"Bill—" He warned.
"You listen here, you crazy fu—" Ford snapped, snatching the blanket wrapped around him in an effort to drag him closer. However, the blanket just slipped and exposed most of Bill's torso and thighs which had Mabel yelping and shielding her eyes in a second. The author's eyes then darted down and he was unable to continue with his furious rant when he caught sight of the wounds the demon had been hiding. "You…what?"
More lacerations covered the flesh Bill had managed to keep hidden. These cuts were deeper and bigger, but they were in no way random. Someone or something had carved drawings, runes, and words in a foreign language Dipper had never seen before into him. Some of the wounds still bled. Bill yanked the blanket out of Ford's grip to cover himself before anyone could stare for too long.
"Bill…" Dipper mumbled in horror, "What happened to you…?"
"It's what I've been wanting to tell you." Bill said and he bit his lower lip as he began to tremble. "It's why I need your help."
Ford had clearly calmed down. Dipper even noticed a degree of sympathy in his eyes. It was amazing considering just how furious he had been mere seconds ago.
"Hang on," Stan said, expressing how confused he still was, "Who the hell is this naked man?"
"It's Bill." Mabel said. "Bill Cipher."
"Isn't he dead?" Stan asked, "And a triangle? How did he get into that body?"
"I don't know what you did to me four years ago." Bill said and he looked at Dipper accusingly, "I've been trying to understand it ever since I woke up. All I know is I didn't die and I somehow found myself in this body. I don't even know if it used to be someone else's and I just usurped the meat suit or if I…I don't know. I don't know."
"What have you been doing all this time?" Ford asked.
"I was lost." Bill said, "I literally woke up in the forest and I've been trying to find my way back to civilisation for the past four years."
"How did you survive?" Mabel asked in awe.
"I still have some magic left. Enough to ward off predators, hunt, and cook meat." Bill said and he summoned a small, blue flame in the palm of his hand as a demonstration.
"And those carvings?" Ford asked, "Did you do them yourself? They look like they could be warding runes."
When Ford reached to move the blanket from Bill's torso for a better view, the blond cowered away, sending a deathly glare that took him off guard.
"They're ritual symbols." Bill frowned, "A few weeks ago – maybe more – a Warlock caught me. It was like he'd been tracking me for a while. I didn't notice him, not until it was too late." he paused and shuddered before continuing, "He tortured me, he harvested my blood, and he told me something that really made me hate you, Pine Tree." And Dipper flinched, "He said that 'cured demon's blood' was an impossibly rare ingredient. Do you understand what that means?"
"You're…human?" Dipper deduced in awe.
"Apparently." He said and then looked down at some of his exposed scars, "I know that, at the very least, I'm mortal otherwise I wouldn't be bleeding."
"So we're really not going to have one normal summer, are we?" Stan groaned and leaned against a wall as he slapped an exasperated hand over his face.
"Doesn't look like it." Ford mumbled pensively as he looked Bill over, keeping his hands to himself. "So," he continued, "We have a Warlock on our hands?"
"A powerful one too." Bill added, "They normally suck at hiding their presence."
"Are we going to go hunt it?" Dipper asked.
"No, that's not how you deal with one of those." Ford said, shaking his head grimly.
"How are we going to find it?" Mabel asked, "Are we going to set traps in the forest?"
"That's the thing, Shooting Star." Bill said, "Warlocks don't hide in the forest. They only ever go to collect material or to perform rituals."
"In other words," Dipper concluded, "Whoever this guy is, he's hiding in Gravity Falls."
"And if he's smart, which he probably is," Ford added, "We're going to have a very hard time finding him."
"What does he want?" Stan asked.
"If they're not worshiping their gods, they're looking for power." Ford said, "But I have to admit that cured demon's blood is an ingredient I've never heard of in any society of magic wielders."
"If you're expecting Witches and Warlocks to tell you the truth you're an idiot." Bill said, "Even Elves are liars. They're nothing like the romanticized versions from your movies."
"Do you know what he wanted?" Mabel asked.
Bill's gaze fell. "No."
"Did you see anything that could maybe hint to what he wanted?" Dipper asked, "I mean, if he was worshipping Gods, I reckon he'd have a few idols scattered around."
"He had me blindfolded." Bill said dryly through gritted teeth, "When I managed to get out, I didn't take the time to look. I just made a run for it."
"Damn, that means we're starting this with nothing." Dipper grumbled.
"Hold on there, kid." Stan said quickly, "I don't think we should get involved in this. It sounds way more dangerous than anything else this family's had to face."
"Like Armageddon?" Dipper snorted.
"That's another thing." Stan added, "Why should we help him? He tried to kill us. I say let the Warlock have him."
Bill's eyes widened and Dipper caught the momentary fear in them. He then turned to Ford who ultimately was going to decide what they were going to do. He had sort of become the leader of their supernatural escapades and Dipper wasn't sure if he was brave enough to go against his will if he decided to forsake Bill. The Warlock sounded powerful and the brunet knew he wasn't nearly strong nor intelligent enough to deal with him on his own.
"We can't just leave him!" Mabel argued. "If we do, we're no better than any other evil thing we stopped!"
"That's pushing it a bit, sweetie." Stan disagreed.
"If he's worshipping his Gods," Ford said slowly and Dipper felt himself tense, "Then that means he'll kill Bill and we'll never see him again." Bill also tensed and he held Ford's gaze during the long pause before he concluded with: "But if he's looking for power, he'll become very dangerous and…we can't risk that happening even if it means protecting Bill."
"You sure that's a good idea?" Stan asked.
"Between you and me," He said, "A big part of me still wants to throw him to the Warlock and help him kill him… but the other, rational part knows it could put the lives of the people of Gravity Falls in jeopardy and no amount of personal ire is worth that."
"Love you too, Sixer." Bill snorted.
"I'm only going to tell you this once, Bill." Ford said icily, "One false move and you're out of this house. You'll be respectful, you won't stir any trouble, and if you so much as hurt anyone whether verbally or physically, I swear to God you'll wish you never left that Warlock."
Bill nodded but Dipper could see the way his mouth curved ever so slightly into a smile. He was pleased, amused even, and that was worrying. Regardless, their summer had taken an unexpected turn: Bill, who they previously thought dead, would be living with them until they dealt with the Warlock. Chaos was the only thing that would undoubtedly follow.
