Chapter 9: Riddle Me This

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It had been a week since the damned dragon and his entourage arrived in the Northwest kingdom.

Strange to say it was mainly since the princess seemed to have gone missing, fleeing the same night that she had relieved Mabel of her duties, and throwing the entire kingdom into a gossiping mess. The King and Queen seemed adamant about lying to the entire kingdom though, and Dipper was called in secret to talk with the royals-

"We need you to find the princess and make sure she isn't harmed." King Northwest spoke, not an ounce of affection or true worry in his voice.

"I've heard wind that there's an awful sorceress named Paz who has decided to keep our daughter hostage. If this is so then please also bring back the heart of the wicked woman, as such an action against the Northwest Royal family cannot be left unpunished." his wife finished off, too busy with fixing her appearance to truly regard Dipper properly.

All in all it more or less seemed like the more cliche and usual quest for a hero like himself-

"Maybe heroes aren't strong enough for such a fate?" echoed Paz's voice in his head.

Dipper really didn't know what to think. Mabel seemed to trust the female magician, and he wanted to think that his twin had good judgement. But he wouldn't allow for her to kidnap a princess simply for her own selfish reasons, it wasn't fair! Then again, if princess Pacifica isn't in any way harmed it seemed difficult for him to truly want to carve out her heart simply because the King and Queen asked…

He pulled at his brown curls, tugging lightly but with enough force to get his scalp tingling.

On the other hand Tova seemed adamant about killing Paz, "How foul, such a woman who is driven to kidnap a princess should be immediately eradicated from the world! Don't you think so, my prince?"

Dipper didn't know how to answer, and felt his mouth go dry. He avoided eye contact and the question all-together. Bill came up onto his shoulder once more, wrapping around his neck and nuzzling lightly, making sure that his soft feathers caressed Dipper's cheek, "Let's focus on locating the princess."

"Yeah. If she isn't with Paz then the sorceress will be unimportant to us… Mabel, can you lead us to Paz?" he lamely finished, making sure to redirect the conversation towards Mabel.

She finally jolted at being called, she was well aware of the situation before them and seemed to be at odds with herself.

"Sure. Just leave it to me!" she tried to cheerfully reply, but it came out just a tad forced.

Yes, Dipper knew of the bountiful love Mabel held for the princess. She was very clear about her feelings and loyalty to Pacifica, but if it required her to defeat her newfound friend Paz then it seemed plausible that she was suffering from some sort of internal conflict. Mabel didn't like to turn on friends or choose sides when it came to these sorts of situations, and she knew deep down that Paz wasn't evil. (But did that really excuse her from taking the princess captive? From possibly torturing her?)

Bill grunted, huffing some smoke through his nostrils and Dipper could feel the heat coming from his breath, "Stop being so caught up in the ethics or morality of things. Focus on the objective, find the princess and we'll go from there."

The twins seemed to be grounded from this but it seemed that Tova would have none of it-

"Of course a wicked beast like you wouldn't mind for morals, all you care about is getting more power. You couldn't possibly understand how we feel."

Bill's feathers ruffled, puffing up intimidatingly, but it seemed that Bill managed to keep his cool, "I'm not saying it doesn't matter, I am saying that we have certain things to achieve and these trivialities shouldn't get in the way."

Dipper was impressed with how Bill managed to reply without so much bite into his words, and Tova seemed unsatisfied but knew that there was no use fighting.

And so they set off to a secluded area in the Northwest kingdom, to which Mabel had been invited to by Paz for tea, and promised that if she ever needed to meet- here would be the place.

The tensions rose as they finally arrived, what looked like a small shop for coffees and pastries came into view, hopelessly alone and quaint.

The group entered, Mabel leading with Dipper and Bill following, and Tova trailing at the end. The shop was quite small but not too stifling. If anything it was homey, with it's luscious red-wood furniture and walls and decor that was simple but potent. Accents of lilac and white adorned the walls, and the tea sets were all in various colors, intended to please the customer with whatever colors they fancied. The flowers in the shop were all bright and large, definitely showing off what magic the owner had-

Paz simply smiled, "How nice of you to join me. Would any of you like something to drink? Maybe something sweet to also bite into-"

"Paz, we don't have time for this." Mabel cut the blonde off, scowling.

Paz seemed to be a bit taken aback by such a bold move from the knight, but easily recovered, "Of course, I'll set aside the pleasantries. You're looking for the princess, and I can assure you I do indeed have her here."

Mabel leaned into a fighting stance, but Paz paid no mind to her, instead looking at Dipper, "You've come to retrieve her, no?"

"Well…" Dipper nodded, "I do want to return her home, and make sure she returns in one piece…"

Paz smirked, crossing her arms, "Yes, but your main motivations lie in retrieving the stone, no?"

Dipper couldn't lie, and nodded, to which he saw Tova and Mabel frown. "To say I only cared about the princess without my own gain seems wrong. It's already bad enough that I am not doing this for heroic reasons, but to lie about them too is doubly worse."

Paz seems pleased, and laughs loudly, "Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful Prince Dipper. I'm glad that the beast has not tried to sway you to corroding or abandoning your morals. It's refreshing."

Dipper spares Bill a glance, to which he fails to meet the blue irises, mainly because Bill refuses to look at him. The entire party seems frustrated with him in one way or another, and Paz laughed once more, "Don't worry, Dipper isn't a completely horrible person. He's honest at least. Here, if you can unleash the stone of wisdom then I'll also release the princess."

Dipper nods, eager to continue with his original quest, but concerned about the princess, "If I can't, promise me you won't hurt the princess."

Paz frowns and waves her hand, "Sure, it'll be annoying if I am considered a murderer, and I'll assure you that she is perfectly safe. We don't even need her to unlock the stone!"

Dipper feels Bill shift on his shoulders, and making a noise of disagreement, but do nothing more after that. The prince frowns and looks at Bill, hoping that this time he'll actually look at him-

And he does, his eyes narrowing as he sends a glance to Paz. Don't trust her it says, and Dipper makes sure to keep his guard up.

Tova and Mabel try to advance, only to find themselves being tossed into chairs and served tea, "Side characters should know their place, so enjoy some tea."

Bill snarls and tries to fight against such magic, clinging to Dipper and even sinking his nails into him. Paz's eyes flare dangerously green in irritation, "Get off of him you pathetic mage."

With a flick of her wrist she finally manages to rip him from Dipper's shoulder, taking his wrist and bringing him downstairs. The basement is lonely, the floorboards creaking with their every step and full of various closed off barrels and boxes. It's also not very well lit, only a couple of faint lights illuminating the large basement. Dipper looks past the darkness and finally finds a stone pillar that houses the next stone, which glows an eerie green. He also manages to find an odd door, which seems out of place but Dipper keeps that in mind for later.

Paz let's go and begins, "I have some riddles that'll prove that you are indeed knowledgeable, and hopefully release the stone from its mount."

Dipper stays quiet and waits for further instruction, and Paz eyes pinch up in joy, "Also, I expect you to tell me where the princess is hiding after this. I have her, but you have to tell me where exactly she is."

Her eyes flash the electric emerald once more, staying luminescent in the low light as she finally begins, "Many have heard me, but no one has seen me, and I will not speak back until spoken to. What am I?"

Dipper takes a few moments to ponder before finally coming to a conclusion, "An Echo? You're an echo."

Paz nods and continues, "What can one not keep, two hold, and three destroy?"

Dipper smiles, he's heard this one from his Grunkle Stan, "A secret."

The sorceress becomes slightly miffed but shrugs him off, easily countering with the next riddle, "It lies behind rocks and rills, and under mountains and hills. It cannot be seen or felt, nor even heard or smelt. What is it?"

This one stumps the prince for a moment, and each second that passes by makes the sorceress' confidence return. Dipper shakes his head and ignores Paz, he can't be distracted by her presence. No- he had to focus.

Under mountains and hills, behind rocks and rills? Maybe dirt? No, you could feel and smell and sense dirt. Behind rocks and rills...behind rocks and rills!-

"Shadows? Or like, darkness?" he shakily replies, and Paz huffs, nodding.

"I can be flipped and broken, but I never move. I can be closed, and opened, and sometimes removed. I am sealed by hands. What am I?"

Dipper knows she must be referring to something metaphorical. It has to be, since it never moves. But what could be the answer? The boy racks his brain for some kind of hint or clue, some sort of answer to become clear to him. Sealed by hands, maybe its-

"A promise." Dipper ends and looks to Paz for confirmation.

She laughs and shakes her head, "Nope. I guess we're done here-"

"Well, no- I can definitely tell you where the princess is though!" Dipper tries to desperately to

Paz gives him a confused look, "Oh please, you can't possibly-"

"I do know! It's painfully obvious! Here, let me show you-"

Dipper takes her to the strange door he found earlier, pointing, "You have her here, don't you? I already had Bill free her of her bindings, so she can come out at my cue."

Paz rolls her eyes, "Fine, give the cue."

Dipper makes a flashy show of magic, letting it flow from his fingertips and light up the room, "She'll come through any minute now."

Paz glares at him and Dipper laughs, "So I see you don't actually have the princess captive."

Paz becomes confused at the sudden change from Dipper, "I do have her here-"

"You never looked at the door though. Or anywhere else, only at me! You're confident in your knowledge of where the princess is."

Dipper smiles as she nods, "Of course I am, and you can't possibly find her. Search the whole building, only I know where she is!"

"I don't need to go past here though, cause I think you're the princess."

Paz scoffs, crossing her arms as she gives him a dead on stare, "Oh really? That's flattering, but I'm afraid you're wrong-"

"No, I know I am right. The princess, she's quite clever actually. Mabel has told me all about her, even all the stories about how she'll disappear at convenient times. And what do you know, Mabel never sees the Princess the same days she sees you. Care to explain that? Cause it's too often to be a coincidence."

Paz fumbles and pushes Dipper back with her magic, "The princess is a blonde though! With blue eyes and is tanned! I am obviously a brunette with green eyes and fair skin, so-"

"You used a potion to mask your features. Or a cloaking spell doesn't seem out of your realm."

Paz tries again and again but Dipper manages to take apart her lies. She finally relents, "I only ask for one thing."

Dipper nods and Pacifica sighs, "Keep this a secret from Mabel please. I want to be the one to tell her."

Dipper nods and hears a thunk echo in the room. The stone has moved from the pillar and he goes to pick it up, "Thank you for helping us though. I am glad that you weren't in any actual danger."

Pacifica drops the act and lets her true form show, flipping her long hair over her shoulder, "I have Mabel to protect me, so I couldn't ever truly be in danger."

Dipper smiles at the confidence the princess has in his sister and motions to the stairs.

The newfound princess finally concedes to Dipper, joining him in returning upstairs, only to find the place a wreck-

Mabel seemed to be hiding from the fight that emerged between the dragon and Tova, who were both fatigued from the fight but unwilling to back down. At the sight of the princess Mabel comes to her side, hoping to shield her from the battle-

"Be careful you two, Bill just started going on a rampage!"

Mabel pulls Pacifica closer, and gives Dipper room to join them behind her makeshift fort. Dipper can see Tova panting but not losing his stance, fear jumps into his chest once he makes out the streaks of red on the floor and on his chin, Tova coughs a bit but refuses to take his eyes off of the beast.

Bill on the other hand seemed to be out of his mind, as his eyes were patchy with splotches of black, his eyes gleaming that horribly gorgeous cerulean. He seems to be struggling with corruption again, and Dipper rushes to cleanse the bracelet, only to be attacked head on from Bill-

"L̩̤̥̫̪̯ͪ̈́̈̌e͌t̯̤̟̦̥͍ͧͮ̇ͯͩ͌͌͡ ̦̳͇̪̦̆ͦ͞ī̫͌̔͐̑ͦt̤̲͉͙̊̓̅ ̗͕̝̣̿͌̇̒ḥ̹̮̋̆̇͂̂̿a̛͇͕͎̙͂̈́p͚̮̪͈͇͙͔͒̕p̺̖̫͕ͫ́̊ͦ́ͪ̀ͅe̴͓̬̳͓̗͕ͦͅn̷̊ͯ,͕̾̊̎̊́ ͔͚̣͎̑͊͊̽ͩ̚j͇͍̩̹͕͓̠͆ͤ͜u̮̯͔̜̻̰͢s͍̮͕̠̗͊͞t̗̩̹̬̘̘̐̊͐̽ͬ́͞ ̟̞̘̻̖̘͎ͩͣl̘̬͈ͭ͗̌e̷̤ͭ̍̍ͣͭ̄̋t̟̝̭͉̏̀ ̷͇̹̜̱̏ͫͧ͐ͅt̗͠h̫̯͈̠̥̝͚̀ͣ̆ͨ̔ẹ̇̒̇̓͊̉ ̫̪͓̥̙͒̓ͥ̈́͛́̇d͈̤̠̬̂͋͊ͣ̊̅̍a̭̝͚̯̻ͧ͋ͭͅr͈̭̖͉̤͇̿ͪ́k̼̹̠̩̹̠̐̀ṉ̙̠̒̏̈̆ȩ̦̗̰̦͎̦̊̈́ͤ̍̉̄ͥs͍͎͇̝͂̒͝s̳̗̠̗̟̈́͊̓̾̂ͪͩ͡ ̤̱̬̺̮̣ͪ̌̀ͣi͊̓̓̇n̗̄ͪͤͬ͂̂s̠̘̪̱̤̠̃̎̊͐i͕͈̗̇͋̊̂͆͗͐d̰̑͊ę̝̲̘̉̃͐̐ͮ͊̀.̻͚͇̖̭.̹͉͚͍̼̣̄̾ͤ̂͐͒͞.͕̺̍̌͑̐̽͐" Bill manages to grind out, holding Dipper down.

Dipper struggles, noticing the feral look that the dragon has and he tries to break free, "Bill! Don't fall victim to it, you know it's not real!"

Bill snarls, droplets of black sludge dripping from his mouth and his sclera becoming more and more corrupted. Tova runs and

"Ḑ̷̖͚̲͕͎̰̥͔̺̭̟̜̹̟̫̰ͬ͗͑̄̃̎̏̈́̂ͪͦ̆̊͂̀́͝ͅǫ̴̴͍̻̗͈͉̜̽ͭ̊̐̈̓ͭͤͫ̀ͭ̀n̢̢̮̜̦̣̠̝͖̞͇̺̒͛ͬ̏ͥ͂ͯ͗͂ͭ͋ͦ̈͌͋ͮ͒͐͘'̡͌̈̈́̈́ͨ͏̠̫͈̘̞̗͙̬̖̯̪͓̯̣̠͜t̡̛̖̟̯̖̤͈͎͙̥͈̗͖̮̳͑ͬͧͪͪ͋ͧ͊͝ ̶̶͗͆̌͑ͣ͑ͯ̎̉͡͞͏̪̣͚̻͉̙̤ẗ̷͎̱̞̬̗̙͇̃́͆ͪ̑ͨ̓̈ͮ̀́̚͟ą̧̥̺͕͔̃̿̈̈́̏̓̄̈ͥ̈́̑̈́̅̆ͯͮ́̒ͯ͜k̯͚̖̼̠͇̺̠̜̺̜̗̗̃͊͑̈̇ͭ͗̅̓̆̿ͦ̈͜͠ͅe̴̵̦̯̙̫͙ͤͬ͛̾̃̓͊́̿ͧͅ ̻̫̥͍̬͍̠͇͚͙̙͖͔̒̓͋̄ͯͮͬ̽͌ͬ̿̄͛̆̋͆̉́h̢̧͒ͮ̅̌͐͡҉͕̠̬͕͇̲̬͔͘i̶͉̭̯̟͔̣̰͎̠̙̟͕ͥ̆̃͛̈́̿͐ͯ͐͊̅́̎̌͋́͛͒́͢͜͡ͅm̡̮͕̩̮̹͇ͧ̅̅́̾̿ͩ̍̐͠͞ ̶̸̴̩̪̯̰̰̉ͨͨ̅̐̑ͭ́͡f͕̯̯̺̲̦̠͍̦͓̪̖ͮ͐͗̓̽̊ͣ̐̆̿ͦͫ̕ͅr̡̊ͪ͗͂̒ͮ͐͏̧̡͚̖̦͙͇̮̣̳͍̜̫̙̺̻ͅō̴̡̙̥̫͚̣̺̲̺͙ͫ̈̄̃̈́̂͊̄ͫͥ̍̾ͨͤ̆͗ͩ͟͡͡m̷̧͙̘̪̱͙̼̩̻̟̼̣̪̻̫̙ͨ̎̍̋͛ͤͩ̿ͮ̍̂̈́ͣ̒̀́̀͘ͅ ̶̃̒̔̾ͥͥ̿ͤ͑ͦͣͯ̌ͪ̂̓̾̌́҉̟̱̬̖͇͉͕̬̦͉̙̳̳̘̭m̶̡̛̩͉̘̱͖̜̘̝̙̱̔̎ͮ͐̎́̾̎̇ͮ̃̄͐͛̓̒̍ͣ̊e͓̯̤̖̪̠͈̣̩̱͖̱̗̭͚̩̫͂ͤͣ͊̇ͪ̈̓ͨ̎͆̅͑ͤͩ̐͛̚̚͢͞,̵̢̣̺͓̣̩̗̔ͣ́ͪ̏͠ ̴̥̦̱͔̼̞̤̤̭̲ͦ͂ͩͫ̑ͧ͗ͫͭ̀̅̽̒ͣ́̚ͅͅp͈̩͖̠̹̥̓ͣ̚͟l̵̶̡̗͎͎̗̖̱̬̤̜̪̰̱̠͎̱̜̿ͧ͂ͯ̅̍́̌̉͑ͭ͊̄͛ͤͅe͑̌ͭͮͥ͒̓͆ͯͩͩͫͪ̎͂̑ͪ҉̟̬̤̱̕͞͞a̵̡̨͉̦̹͈̪̲͕͊̀ͣ̐ͧ̇́ͨ̈́͌̈̀̚ͅs̸̟̯̤̥̺̙͎̮̫͈͎͕̞̪ͪͭ̎̾͗ͮ̿ͭ̋͟͠͡e̴̢̯̫͚̺͔̣͈͖̳̘̦̠͗̾̈́ͣ͛ͩͨ̈́̔̽͊͊̕͞͠!̴͊ͩ͛̌ͨͯ̉ͯͪ́̏̾͋͋ͣ̈́͘҉̸̶̭̞̬͎̣ ̴̰̥͙͖̃̈͑ͩ̀͒̾̽̓̀̚͢͡I͙̦̪͈͇̘̳̰̬͖̘͕͕͕̠ͮ̏͐ͫͥ̎̊̈́͑͋̽̿͘͟͝ ̸̶̛̺̯̠̪̭̣̮̣̦̠͗ͣͥͣ̉͐͋͒̌ͦͬͥ̒̈͟͝nͭ̎̈̆͆̈́ͥ̍͒̋̍͏̟̲͎̝̯̦̙͍͚̘̱̜̥͔͜ͅe̶ͯ̅̏̈́͐̉̋͐͏͔̼̟̬̼e͓̱̰̠̗̮̦͈̠̠̜̜̮̯̲̫ͣ͆ͥ̉̍̾͋͛̅̿́́ͧ͗ͯ͐͆̕͜ͅḑ͓̯̲͉̫̪͖̼̗ͫ̊ͣ̇ͩͦ̂͌͊̚͘͡ ̡͍̣̯͓̿͆ͨ̓̑̄̀ͦ͞h͛ͯ͑́ͫ̉̽̒͂̏ͧ̊̇̃ͩ̒̃̀҉̷̠͎̗̯͔̫̫͢͞ͅi̠̦͚̰̘̺̪̫̫̙̗ͭͦ̿͋ͨ̒ͧ̓̈ͫ̅ͮ̐́͜͠͡m̂ͦ̅̉̏ͨ̒ͭͨ̿̿ͨͩ̄̃̀̓͊̆͏̡͏͎̼̩̫!̦̣̭͓̥͓̪̩͇̜͉̪̗̥̮̲̻͇̍̆͐͛̂̾̋ͪ͑̒̃̍̀̀ " he screeches, and Tova doesn't stop

slamming him against the wall.

Once Dipper recovers he scrambles to find the stone, he needs to purify the bracelet before Bill loses himself completely. Mabel leaves the fort to help him look, finally managing to see where it is and just narrowly dodging the fight to retrieve it.

"Dipper, catch!" she yells, tossing him the stone.

He fumbles a bit with the catch but finally gets a grip, his hands shaking as he finally gets to purifying the bracelet. The second it is complete he looks over at Bill, whose eyes clear up and return to their normal color-

Bill stops fighting, dodging Tova's onslaught and returning to Dipper, "Sorry about that… We should hurry onto the next kingdom."

Dipper doesn't let him climb onto his shoulder, frowning down at the reptile, "Why didn't you say the corruption was getting bad for you? I thought I was the only one who would lose myself!"

"Well you needed to be thinking straight, so I might have tried taking the burden for awhile, alright! I knew my timing was fine though, so it worked out."

"No Bill, this isn't about it all 'working out'. This was dangerous! If Tova wasn't here then we could have all been killed!"

Bill looks offended, "I wouldn't have-"

Dipper finally feels his anger leave his hold, "Look around! This place is a mess! And that doesn't even account for the damage you did to Tova!"

Bill can't fight that as he sees Pacifica and Mabel already helping Tova stand, and Dipper scoffs, "Just heal him and let's get the princess back, yeah?"

The crew patch themselves up and head out, to which Bill isn't allowed to touch any of them.

"Hey Dipper, is Bill ok? That crazy rampage thing seemed to be so sudden! Don't tell me he's done this before-" Mabel begins, but Dipper reassures her otherwise.

"No, he hasn't done this. It's cause he got cocky and thought he could take the curse head on by himself. It was stupid, but at least he won't try it again."

Mabel rubs her hands nervously, bravely continuing, "Isn't this a bit much though? He made a mistake, but he had good intentions."

"He should have talked to us about it, or at least me! He never lets me in on what he's thinking, he just tells me what to do, and it's so annoying! Look, he even went out again now without saying anything! Always doing just whatever he wants!" he feels himself growing too heated and tries to breathe, and calm down.

"Animals are often like that Dipper, they have no regard for others." Tova cuts in, all healed and with a tray of drinks for all of them. Dipper takes the cool drink thankfully and doesn't bother to check what it is before taking a swig, coughing as the alcohol slides down his throat-

Tova laughs and pats his back, "I probably should have warned you first my prince, I apologize. It isn't all that bad though once you are aware of what it is."

Dipper flushes and tries again, hoping that Tova doesn't see him to be too much of a child from the lack of experience with alcohol. Once he takes a smaller sip it isn't too bad, there's a small sting but it's easily followed by a smooth sweetness that catches his fancy.

"You're actually quite right! I should have been more aware though instead of letting my anger get the best of me."

Mabel declines the drink and frowns as Dipper takes hers, trying to reach out to him only to have Tova dominate the boy's attention.

Pacifica calls for her and she sighs, saying her good byes, "We leave so she can attend a meeting, so I probably won't see you off tomorrow."

Dipper hugs her and makes sure to send her off with their usual luck bond, speaking in unison, "May we cross paths again."

"Dipper," Mabel starts quietly, making sure they are alone, "I don't like Tova. And Bill is dangerous, so please be careful brother."

He nods, "Don't worry, I can take care of myself. You take care as well, and don't be too reckless."

Mabel squeezed his hands, "I really don't like Tova though! I...I don't think you should keep him around-"

"Mabel, he's good! If he wasn't there for the fight then you would have been hurt!"

"I know, but he isn't genuine. Paz warned me about him, and I...I'm not sure but I think Tova might have triggered Bill-"

"What? No, there's no way! That curse was only between me and Bill, Tova has no control over that. Stop trying to blame him."

Mabel opens her mouth to counter and the guards call her once more, "Look, just trust me on this. Maybe he didn't trigger it but he wasn't helping. They were arguing before it happened-"

"Mabel Pines, please report now or we shall leave you." came the strong command and Mabel finally pulls away, "Be careful Dipper, just...be careful."

Dipper waves and returns to his room, finding a note from Pacifica that they have access to her family's libraries if they need help finding solutions to the curse or anything else they wish.

He goes to bed that night with plans of finding out who exactly William Cipher was and how he could beat this curse.

Bill informed them that they could only spare another couple hours in the Northwest Kingdom, so Dipper scouted Tova to aid him in his search of the answers to his questions, providing him with lovely company.

Dipper spent his last couple hours in the Northwest's library, combing through the texts with his magic and trying to see if anything new comes up. Tova assists, since Dipper's radius can't possibly cover the entirety of the giant library. The same things come up again and again, like a mantra in his head-

William Cipher was born in the Mindscape Kingdom. William Cipher joins the Cipher Royal Guard. William Cipher is well versed in magic.

It seems that despite his talents, Bill has not made much of a name for himself. There was a couple more stacks of books ready to be combed through on Dipper's end, each approximately ten books high. He sighs, this was still a pain, especially since it was growing more and more tedious as they continued.

He's about to start on a new stack when Tova stops him, gesturing at one of the books-

"Dipper, come look at this. I think I've found something that's upsetting…"

The prince frowns and takes the book from his knight, glancing over the highlighted portion, reading aloud softly-

"William Cipher of the Royal Guard was a native to the Mindscape Kingdom and more than eligible to join the Cipher Royal Guard. William was hardworking and generous, loving to all those who came to him and never turned away anyone in need. Such a genuine and caring person should be venerated, but alas his duty to his people has taken him from us. Let us remember him as the wonderful person he is, and stay strong in his wake. He will be greatly missed, not only as our protector, but as our prince as well..."

Dipper realizes that this was a collection of obituaries from long ago, and he feels his skin crawl with the realization.

"Oh…" is all he begins with, trying to make sense of the situation, "So Bill is technically dead?"

Tova nods, but continues with another book, "What I don't understand though is how Bill is able to continue existing though. Like, if he's dead and he wants to return to his previous body, then he would basically be performing suicide…"

Dipper sees where Tova's going with this and immediately feels something akin to fear rise up in his chest, "No. He's probably going to be fine once the curse is lifted."

"Right?" Tova starts, "So I think Bill's lying about who he is."

Dipper shakes his head, stubbornly fighting against Tova's conclusion, "Tova, I don't think he's bad! Sure he's powerful and possibly dangerous, but not evil!"

Tova nods, "I thought you might say that, so I investigated a bit more."

He presents another book, and points out one of the passages, which is accompanied by a picture of a triangle with a single eye-

"This is a demon I found when looking up the name Bill. He's dangerous and incredibly persuasive, and is known to befriend his victims."

Dipper stares at the page, the symbols associated with Bill very similar to the symbol on the back of his spell book, and he hates where this is going-

"And look, Bill is able to take power from his victims if they collect three objects for him. What are you collecting-"

"Three magical binding stones." Dipper harshly replies.

"Right, sounds too close to be coincidence, right?" Tova sees how bothered Dipper is becoming and sighs, "Look, I could be wrong about this but it's just too obvious to ignore. I don't like this guy, but if he's a demon then I can't let him hurt you."

Dipper nods and tries to find a way to possibly reveal Bill's true form…

"Comb through, spells in assist with the Lens of Truth."

A couple of books come to Dipper's side, and he and Tova go through them until one of the spells seems useful-

"Okay, so if you use the Lens of Truth and I cast the Identification Spell on top of it, there's no way Bill will be able to deny us his true form."

Tova sees how Dipper's hand shakes and he takes it in his larger hand, "Don't worry my prince, this will simply let us find the truth."

They waited till they were leaving the Northwest residence, and heading towards the Mindscape Kingdom. Of course such a trip could not be made in a day, so they set up camp at sunset, and Tova signaled Dipper to get the Lens and activate it.

The leathery handle was in his grasp and yet he couldn't really feel it. It was all so surreal, but also somewhat grounding? He'd be able to see what Bill looked like-

Tova's light green magic wrapped around the lens, creating a halo effect on the object and Dipper swallowed hard. Now, all he had to do was point it at Bill and look through it.

Bill was setting up a campfire, and was trying to make the pit as controlled as possible, his back turned to where the pair were hiding behind some trees. Dipper took a deep breath before looking through it and cringing at the image.

Bill was a floating triangle.

He had a small fancy hat and what seemed like chains wrapped around his pitch-black wrists. His body glowed gold like his scales, and his lower half seemed to section off into brick-like structures. Bill's limbs were thin and pitch black, and soon his tiny hand lit with blue fire as he tossed it to the wood-

Dipper took off the lens of truth grabbed Tova's hand, "Let's switch, you look through the lens and I'll cast the spell. Just to confirm that what I saw was real."

Tova nodded, a sad look coming over his expression at Dipper's blatant denial.

Again they set it up, and Tova looked through, "I see the demon from the book."

The prince is silent beside him, trying to digest the information. Tova begins again, "We need to kill him, my prince. He is too dangerous to be left alone-"

Dipper sighed and grabbed the lens again, "I can't believe this…"

Tova wasn't able to react fast enough, and sprinted after Dipper, hoping he could convince the boy to let go of his feelings and do the right thing.