Chapter 11
"Hey, Pine Tree!" Bill's cheerful voice echoed throughout the dreamscape.
Dipper grinned widely, looking around for the triangle, watching to see when he'd pop up. "Hi! Ready to have a good time?"
"Yeah! You up for that game of chess?" Bill asked him and two floating chairs appeared as well as a floating chess board.
The boy jumped up onto one of the seats, the normally impossible feat rather effortless in the dream. "You bet! Chess is the best," he reponded, sitting down. "Black or white?"
"Black, of course!" Bill told him, snapping his fingers as all his pawns appeared. The triangle floated just above the chair, not actually touching it.
So I get the first move . . . Dipper eyed the board and his pieces, moving the pawn diagonal to the queen forward two spaces, wanting to free up his best first. It was usually a promising way to go. "I'm warning you now: I've never lost a game of chess in my entire life," the boy bragged proudly, smiling at the dream demon. "Mabel can testify."
Bill rolled his eye and flicked his finger, moving his pawn forward with magic. "Yeah. Yeah. And you do know you're playing against a demon, right? Not to mention that I'm omnipotent in the mindscape. I can read your mind and see all your strategies, kid."
He grinned in response. "Maybe, but that doesn't mean it's impossible for me to win. It wouldn't be any fun for you if it was, wouldn't it?" Dipper slid his queen out from the back row, progressing safely to the side.
"True. I'm choosing not to read your mind. I just meant I could." The demon made his move, freeing up the bishop.
The boy felt a burst of joy at hearing that. It was weird, to say the least. He moved a pawn. "So, do you play this often?" Dipper asked casually, not wanting the conversation to end there.
"I actually haven't played in thirty years. There haven't been any good people to play chess with since then. Probably a bit rusty but thirty years to me feels more like thirty minutes. When you're immortal, a century feels like barely anything." Bill shrugged, flicking his finger, taking his move.
Dipper released his knight, pondering over the statement. "That's gotta feel weird, huh?" he said. "Others' lives must have little meaning when it seems that short . . . Wait, did you say thirty years? Did you play chess with the Author before he disappeared?" The boy's eyes widened in anticipation.
"You bet! He was challenging to beat, actually. After all, he is the smartest man I've ever met. We had fun, I made him my puppet, we chatted a lot . . ." Bill was careful to not reveal too much about his old friend as he made his move, releasing his knight as well.
Dipper felt a stab of mixed curiosity and jealousy. I thought I was Bill's only — he abruptly cut that thought off. "That's . . . uh, cool. I knew you met him but I didn't know you guys were so close. What . . . What happened?" He moved a pawn without looking, troubled eyes on the golden triangle before him.
"I . . . can't tell you the whole story, but I will say he disappeared into another dimension," he said softly, moving his pawn to capture Dipper's.
Aw, man . . . Dipper shifted his rook to the side. "Another dimension? Strange," he commented, worrying his bottom lip. "Can you . . . tell me a little? Maybe who he was?"
"Nope! That's for destiny to decide when you find out. I'm sure a day will come in the future when everything will change. You'll find out soon enough. Though . . . Maybe if you can decode a code on my wheel you can get a hint as to who the Author is . . . " Bill muttered the last part, deciding to give the kid ciphers and riddles instead. "How about this, Pine Tree. I'll give you one code, a hint, and that's it. Here." Bill waved his hand and a slip of paper appeared with some gibberish on it. It read: VWDQ LV QRW ZKDW KH VHHPV.
"A . . . cipher?" Dipper blinked, holding the offering like a gift from the heavens. He wasn't sure he could be more pleased if Bill had directly answered him. The boy absolutely loved decoding messages, after all. His mind already went to work to figure it out, the ordering of letters in the sentence already appearing familiar. The chess game was well out of his interest at the moment. "How long do I have to solve it?"
Bill shrugged. "I don't care. Decode it whenever you want. I'm not giving you a time limit. I will not say anything else about the topic though. All you get is that hint. The rest is up to time and destiny." Bill shut up after that. It was clear that he would not give Dipper more answers than that.
"Alright," Dipper agreed, nodding once. It would have to do. Pulling up two lists of the alphabet, he did what he usually did, creating a simple cipher wheel. This one was glowing and moved in the air, though, one of the perks of dreaming. If it was Caesar then he'd be able to solve it this way. He started, moving one letter back. "UVCP . . ." he muttered, frowning. The boy knew that that wasn't it and tried again. "TUBO JT . . . What? That's not it, either."
"Third time's a charm!" Bill said in a sing-song voice, indiscreetly giving him yet another clue.
The brunet lifted a curious eyebrow, smiling. He had the wheel move three letters back. "STAN . . ." Dipper's breath caught at that, a frantic shock speeding over his features. "Wait, STAN? It can't be Grunkle Stan, can it?" He quickly decoded the rest of the message. "STAN IS NOT WHAT HE SEEMS. Not . . . that's . . ."
"Yay! You decoded it! Congratulations." Bill cheered and clapped his hands, but did not say anything about the code and what it meant.
The boy scanned his eyes over the words one more time, the translation a shock even after reading it again. "W-what . . . Why are you telling me about Grunkle Stan? Is he the Author? How . . ."
Bill stayed silent, letting the boy think things through and refusing to answer his questions. "Think things through, Pine Tree. It's almost morning and you will be waking up soon. I'll see you later, kid." And with that Bill disappeared.
"Hey! Bill . . ." Dipper frowned, a little disappointed. He hardly spends any time with me before having to go . . . The brunet's eyes darted to the chess board. He didn't even get the chance to really play me. It's not like him to turn down the opportunity of winning a game. And he could just hold me in this dream if he wanted to. Dipper's heart clenched, slightly hurt by the dream demon. His earlier concerns had slipped his mind for the while. What if Bill doesn't think I'm fun anymore?
Bill had only left the dream, not really Dipper's mind. He paused for a minute, listening to Dipper's echoing thoughts. What if Bill doesn't think I'm fun anymore? Bill blinked as he listened. The kid cared for him that much? Perhaps then Dipper would be on Bill's side when the day finally came . . . at least the demon hoped. If Pine Tree is on my side for the apocalypse then I won't have to worry about the betrayal and heartbreak, he mused. It's Stanford all over again. I have to get it right this time. Even if it means being all lovey-dovey to the kid. Bill reappeared back into Dipper's dreams, wanting to finish the game at least.
The twelve year-old's blurring brown eyes brightened instantly with the triangle's return. Relief flooded his senses as he allowed a hopeful smile on his features. "B-bill? You came back? I thought you had to go . . ."
"I changed my mind. Wanna finish that game?" The demon sat back down in the floating chair.
He thought he might cry from joy. "Y-yeah," Dipper nodded. "It's your turn, I think."
Bill looked at board carefully, making his move. "Sorry I left without finishing the game. I just thought you needed some time to think about the code I gave you."
That's not what you said before . . . and you know I can think while playing a game. And you're probably able to hear me right now, too. Despite his thoughts, Dipper took the apology completely and with appreciation. "It's okay. I'm glad you came back," he said, moving his rook out to capture a pawn. The brunet glanced up at Bill with a grin. "Now I can properly enjoy myself when I beat you."
Bill rolled his eye. "Yeah, I can hear your thoughts, and don't count on winning." Bill captured another one of Dipper's pawns.
Dipper huffed good-naturedly, moving his knight to protect his bishop. "If you're eavesdropping on my strategies then there's not much for me to try for, is there? Especially since you told me that you wasn't listening. I'd have been such a fool . . ." The tween attempted to hold back his laughter.
"It's called selective hearing, kid. I only hear some of your thoughts." Bill flicked his finger, simply moving a pawn.
Which 'some'? he wondered, reeling at the possibility that trying to keep hidden his more personal thoughts had been a waste of effort. And boy, did he expend a lot. Not being able to properly admire and adore the vibrant divinity before him was like not being able to breathe — after a while, it hurt. Where those revelations came from he believed he would never know. "Is it always like that? Can you hear more than one person at a time?" Dipper asked, interested as he advanced a pawn as well.
"I choose which people to listen in on and which thoughts. Basically it all depends on what I feel like. Being omniscient and all." Bill shrugged as he moved his rook. "The watching part is different though . . . "
"How so?" The boy slid out his queen.
"Let's just say I see everyone through triangles." Bill took out his last knight. "Each triangle is a like a peephole."
Dipper stole away a bishop in return, humming in acknowledgement. He figured that Bill would be as secretive as possible, although he had hoped their friendship would make some exceptions. Apparently those were harder to come by than he thought. "So, um . . . do you see everything at one time? Wouldn't it get confusing? Or is it like listening to thoughts?"
"It's kinda like listening to thoughts. That way I don't get confused by everything I see." Bill moved his pawn and it got to Dipper's side.
The boy blinked as the pawn was swapped out for a queen. He hadn't thought to get rid of it until the moment. He tried to trap Bill's queen between his own and a bishop. It served as a fair enough distraction from his upcoming question, which was momentarily forgotten. "O-okay . . . You're really good at this."
Bill just laughed. "When you've played games against the smartest men in the universe, you learn a thing or two! The Author is one of them. As well as a man from Dimension C-137, Rick Sanchez."
"I don't think I've ever heard of that dimension before," Dipper admitted, searching his memory for the name. He came up empty, as predicted. "How did you meet him?"
"Rick . . . Well he travels dimensions. He visited my dimension once so that's how I met him," Bill answered simply and made his next move on the board, working to get rid of Dipper's bishop.
"Your dimension?" the brunet gaped, asking for clarification. He blocked an attack with his queen. "You mean your dimension, as in the mindscape? Or our dimension? Is there a difference?"
"Yep. My dimension. The Nightmare Realm. He has a portal gun and accidentally ended up in my dimension trying to get to Gravity Falls." Bill explained, moving his Knight to attack.
"Wait — Nightmare Realm?" Dipper was practically falling out of his seat, position threatening to wipe clean the board. "What the heck are you talking about? And . . . h-he was trying to get to Gravity Falls? Why?"
"Duh. Where else did you think I originated from? That has been my dimension for a trillion years or so. The mindscape is just a way for me to project myself to you humans without opening a portal," Bill explained. He wasn't exactly sure why he was telling Dipper this information. Since Dipper didn't know about Stanford or the portal Bill was sure it was pretty safe to tell him a few secrets and knowledge. "Rick had visited Gravity Falls before. He met the Author and they were pretty good friends . . . though that was thirty years ago."
Wow, Bill's old, his mind couldn't help but comment. The boy absently moved his rook forward, eyes trained on Bill. The Author and Rick are friends? I guess that's alright . . . He felt half of his worry lift off of his shoulders. Half of it. "Why do you do it, then — try to come to our dimension? That makes sense, but . . . what makes us special?" What do you want?
"I want to come to your dimension for . . . business. I have things to do that I need a vessel for . . ." Bill half-lied. It was the truth. He did have business to take care of that he needed a vessel for.
Dipper paused, taking it in. "You said you wanted a body for entertainment."
"That too." Bill captured the rook Dipper had moved.
The boy worried the inside of his cheek, slowly pondering. He understood what was revealed of Bill's motives, but it hurt to know that he had been keeping things back. Even if it was mutual. "Do you really enjoy being with me?" Dipper questioned once more, blurting it out like a burden. He asked a million times. He asked in a million ways. Somehow, though, the answer always felt the same. Dissatisfying. A lie. "Are the moments really worth the time?"
Bill stared at him. "Of course. I thought I told you that I like you, kid. You're smarter than most humans your age, and you have a passion for the supernatural and mysteries so similar to the Author." The demon wanted to say, "Not surprising, considering you are related to him" but he kept that to himself.
"Y-yeah, but . . . you're always doing nice things for me and you wanted to be my friend. Just because you l-like me doesn't mean you have to spend so much time making me . . . feel . . ." the boy trailed away, unable to hold Bill's gaze. He settled with shuffling a pawn forward. How did Dipper feel? Good? Appreciated? Loved?
His cheeks flushed an embarrassing shade of pink, as once again, his emotions played with his sanity.
"I believe that's what friends do, Pine Tree. I'm just trying to uh . . . be a good friend, I guess . . ." Bill easily captured the pawn he just moved.
That wasn't so reassuring. "No, Bill . . . you've been . . . so much more than a 'good' friend," Dipper insisted, making another move. He was surprised by the passionate truth of his words. "You're caring and fun and awesome and you're here for me whenever I need you. It was never like that before. I-I just wonder why. When did you decide that I was worth all the . . . the trouble?"
"Look, Pine Tree . . . I . . . guess I decided I was bored and needed a new friend. So being nice to you is . . . a way I can make it up to you for all the bad things I did to you in the past," Bill slowly managed out. He wasn't entirely sure how to respond to the boy. Bill was not used to this kind of praise from humans or the kindness the boy was showing him despite that he was a monster.
"Is that it, though? Once you've made it up to me, what happens then?" He pressed his lips together for a moment. The triangle looked a beautiful, glimmering golden. He would miss seeing Bill every day if he left. He really would.
"Well, I stay. Pine Tree, I'm not just going to get up and leave. Gravity Falls is my home as it is yours." Bill told him, reading his mind. "I can't really leave this town even if I wanted too, unless someone outside of Gravity Falls summons me."
The boy moved his king to the side, castling. "But . . . Do you want to leave?"
"No. Not really," Bill replied. He moved his knight. "I would like to stay in Gravity Falls. Though if I had a physical form, I would visit other parts of the world for fun."
Dipper gave the slightest smile at that. "Maybe later when you have a body . . . we could go places for fun together. I'd like to travel around with you. A-and even now, I could come up with some illusions similar to the outside world." He moved his knight as well.
"Yeah. That sounds like fun." Bill decided to finish the game, moving his knight into his trap for Dipper's king. "Checkmate!" he exclaimed. "Sorry kid, I had to finish the game. Your sister is worried about you. You are sleeping in pretty late."
"What? Aww . . ." Dipper groaned, the obvious defeat impressing as much as surprising him. "How could I not have seen that coming? Good game, Bill. You were great." The boy stood from his chair, which had lowered to the ground. He held his hand out to shake the dream demon's in a gesture of friendliness
Bill shook his hand. "I'll be back soon. I promise." The demon disappeared, waking Dipper up in the process.
The boy was smiling when he woke, the warmth of Bill's hand lingering in his. Mabel ruined that with a splash of freezing water to his face. Dipper yelped, sputtering.
"Are you alive, bro-bro?"
"Yes."
She splashed him again for good measure. The soaked tween jumped out of bed, shivering. He scowled. "Was that really necessary?"
Mabel beamed, mocking his irritated puberty voice. "Yes."
Before he could think to punish her for her actions, the girl took off, out the room and down the steps. Dipper charged after her, more playful than angry.
"You get back here!"
Her reply carried throughout the Shack. "Neveeeeeeeeerrrrr!"
