Illusion is Reality

Chapter 141

-Attacks in the media-

...I forgot about the war in Mewni!

Fuck fuck fuckity fuck.

Well, the good news is I remembered now.

So it was off to Glossaryck's section of the multiverse. I know Mewni is none of my business, but I hated what was happening there.

I snuck around, just watching the going on's for the moment. If it was a space and resource issue I could just make more Islands. There were some monsters huddled around a fire, cold and hungry and injured from another disagreement with the Mewmans that turned violent and resulted in them being attacked and chased off. I approached those Monsters and made myself known. "Hello there. I see you're all in something of a pickle?"

The monsters all jumped and seemed panicked for a moment. Then they saw me, my utterly non-Mewman looking triangular self, and they relaxed. I almost laughed at the irony. Here, in this part of the multiverse, people relaxed at seeing me. Figures the only thing scarier than me were humans/mewmans. Of course, they were still wary, but for the moment, they weren't about to start screaming and throwing things at me.

"You guys have no place to live, right? That's the problem?" I asked. "Well, that, and the whole… being slaughtered thing…" I muttered. The monsters stared at me. "Uh… yeah?" One of them blinked. I think they're too hungry to think properly. I took my hat off and reached in to pull out a bag of corn. They seemed to really like corn for some reason. A plant that the humans- er… mewmans, grew, carrying it here from earth. The monsters seemed really into it. I suppose the way the corn seeds were submerged in the Sea of Magic made them especially delicious and nutritious?

At the sight of the food, they all straightened up, salivating. I tossed the bag in front of them and winced when they all dove straight at it, shoving each other as they shoveled corn into their mouths. "Yeesh, I have plenty of food, no need to be like this." I muttered, leaning on my cane as I waited for them to calm down. I even tossed out more corn, feeling rather bemused at all this. Wow, desperate much? I know I shouldn't judge, but this was kinda sad...

"Are you quite done?" I asked tonelessly once they had finished off the corn.

"Where'd you get it?" One of the monsters asked. I rolled my eye. "I can grow it. Farming is something I'm quite well versed in." I swung my cane. "And I'm sure I can teach you all as well. Plus giving you some land with which to farm on."

They looked at each other and then back at me. "Who are you?"

I tipped my hat at them, like the dapper gentleman I was. "Name's Bill. But you can call me your new benefactor." Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe I was being a busy body and sticking my angles into places I had no right to be in. But I just… didn't like seeing this happening. And yes, I had forgotten about it for a while, which I feel bad about, but I've been busy!

Also, I knew that some girl named Star was supposed to be born someday in the future to help out? Probably? I never actually watched the show when I was human, though I heard my friends talk about it. Well either way, "I'm gonna be honest here, the Mewmans can't be defeated. They've got too much power on their side. It sucks, but you can find a new, better place to live." I told them.

One of them sighed and shook his head. "Look, mister Bill, that's… a nice thought. But we don't want to run away and give up. This is our home." They all sighed. "It'd be nice if the Mewmans would just leave. Why can't they just go back to where they came from?"

...that was another idea.

"Hm… I wonder if I could ask them to leave… would they listen…" I muttered. The monsters gasped. "Yo-you're gonna try and… talk to those Mewmans?!"

Huh. They say Mewmans the same way other people would say 'demon'. Yeesh. Looks like a bit of magic and those descendants of humanity got super uppity and awful. Why wasn't Glossy doing anything about this? I know he's Neutral but still! This was worse than Dad, because Glossy actually interacts with his followers!

"Alright, I guess I haven't tried asking them to stop killing Monsters yet. Maybe they'll be up to moving away to a better area?" I mused to myself. Cohabitation was obviously a no-go. What with how much they were at odds, and refusing to get along...

"...good luck dude." One of the monsters shuddered. "But ah… before you go off and get killed, can we get more corn?"

I wordlessly pulled out another bag of corn. "Teach a man to fish, but the men don't wanna learn." I rolled my eye as I tossed the corn at their feet. "You know, my offer to teach you how to grow corn is still on the table." I pulled out another bag full of growth ready corn kernels/seeds. "Serious, growing your own, in some secret location that the Mewmans won't be able to get to, would help for not starving." I tossed the bag down as well. "If you need to contact me, here's my card." I whipped out my business card. Been a pretty long time since I've had to pass it out to anyone. Kinda weird to have a blank slate to work with here. Only people well versed in 'forbidden' magic even knew of me here. I wonder which tome Eclipsa found my summoning from?

The monsters didn't seem all that interested in learning to farm, just eating the corn right away. I sighed. You know what? Maybe Glossy was right to just leave them be. It's only been five minutes of interacting with these monsters and I was already done.

I Blinked off to the palace, trying to decide if I should just directly ask the current Queen (scanning… hm, some lady called Rhina?) to just… move her people to a new location, or not. I went to check with Glossaryck first.

"Hey Glossy~" I tapped on the magic book of spells. The queen wasn't here right now, off doing some kinda puzzle with her friend out in the garden. Ugh. She didn't care at all about the war and just let the Magic High Commision run wild. What was up with that anyway? Why did they hate the monsters so much? None of them were human or mewman so what was up with that? While I was stewing over how stupid this all was, the book flipped open and that musical jingle sounded. Glossaryck hovered there cross-legged, his eyes bulging as usual.

...such a strange god, this one.

"Oh hello Bill. Are you here for another magic lesson?"

"As much fun as it would be to pirouette and set things on fire, I'm actually here to ask about what the heck is your game here." I folded my arms.

The blue man stared at me with a blank expression. "I'm not sure what you mean?"

"This." I waved my arms, "The war, the killing, the death, the genocide of the native population. What's the point of it all? Why are you allowing it? I mean, I figured you had some kinda plan, considering this IS your dimension and your people and all, but I'm just getting more confused the more I think about it."

"I don't have a plan. I let them do whatever they want." Glossaryck told me before stretching out one of his legs and picking at his toe nails. Ewww.

"But they're killing each other!" I protested.

Glossaryck continued giving me a level stare. "Bill, there are wars happening on your Earth too, aren't there? Goodness knows they're happening on that 2nd Earth you created here."

I twitched. "I don't have full power on my own Earth." I wasn't afraid of telling him that. Who was he gonna tell?

"You and I both know that you know enough magic to really throw your weight around if you put your mind to it." Glossaryck's tone was very unamused. "Now, did you need something, or did you just come to complain to me about my actions or lack thereof while projecting your own insecurities for the future onto me as some way to motivate me to do something you can use as a base for solving your own problems?"

I twitched.

"Or did you simply want to demand that I fix the hostilities between my people because you made an attempt and got discouraged immediately from sheer frustration?" he continued.

"...stop, please." I whimpered. Glossaryck shrugged. "You have no right to say anything to me about what I do or don't do. It's not your business what my life choices are. And if you want to interfere with what's happening here, be my guest. It is not my concern." he floated back into the pages. "So, unless you have something you want, I'm going back to my reading." and the book flipped shut.

I flipped him off. "Up yours too you dick." I muttered. Why did I even bother? The people here were… entirely unhelpful. Even Eclipsa didn't give a shit, she was fine just being with her husband and child. I mean, I couldn't blame her, the mess here was… a mess. I suppose I couldn't blame anyone for not wanting to change the status quo. As miserable as the racism and war was, it was 'normal' now. The shit relations between the Mewmans and Monsters was just… 'normal'. And I hated how much they seemed to think it was fine this way.

Well, not fine, but neither side seemed willing to back off. Either the Monsters won and chased the Mewmans off their lands, or the Mewmans won and killed all the monsters. There were some monsters that didn't want to fight anymore and one of the previous 'Queens' even managed to form an alliance and friendship with two races, but the Magic High Commission kept pushing for the war effort. And I just… didn't understand why they were so on board with the idea of the genocide and subjugation of multiple groups and species.

...well I was still gonna ask the current queen if she could just… move her people to somewhere else. If they can't get along, then just get away from each other. Simple!

A soft rustle caught my attention. I rolled my eye over and blinked. There was a little girl huddled behind a shelf, peeking out at me. She looked young, maybe 10 at most. Ah, the current queen's daughter. What was her name… Celena? Pretty name.

Wait, what if she alerts the guards that there was some kinda intruder hanging out near the magic book of spells?! Quick! I need to say something to get her to not think I'm someone suspicious!

I raised my hand and waved. "Hi there! I'm Glossy's friend." Yup, that was good enough.

The little girl hid behind the shelf again. I waited. She slowly peeked back out at me. I could tell she was curious, but too nervous to try and talk, her long hair falling to cover half her face. Goddamn. This is just… super adorable. I tried my best to be non-threatening. Hopefully these Mewmans, as descendants of humans, wouldn't be afraid of my triangular self like most other creatures. "My name's Bill. What's yours?" I already knew, but it was nice to ask. And maybe I could get her to talk to me.

Still nothing, but she was watching me. I resisted the urge to go over and hug her for being so frickin' cute. "Are you here to talk to Glossaryck?" I asked. "You can just nod or shake your head if you're not up for talking." I told her. Slowly, she nodded. "Oh, well, do you want me to call him?" she shook her head.

"...then, what do you want to do?" I asked instead. Celena glanced at the magic book of spells, and then at me. "...do you… wanna hang out with me?" I guessed. She ducked behind the shelf again. I floated to the ground and sat, waiting.

Eventually, the little girl came back out, slowly making her way to me. Like some timid small animal. I held still, blinking innocently up at her. Finally, she sat down beside me, sending me glances before looking away, and then back to me. The curiosity was oozing off her. Very slowly, I pushed myself to my feet and took a few steps towards her. She stiffened, but didn't try to move away. I sat down again, within reach of her arms.

I waited.

She was clenching her hands in her dress, fiddling with the fabric as she glanced at and away from me again.

"Do you want to pick me up?" I asked.

It took a moment, but she nodded, looking so very bashful about this admittance. I just scooted over along the ground closer to her. "Feel free. Just don't squeeze me too hard, or tickle me." I warned teasingly. I wasn't too afraid of her grabbing me. She was a tiny child, and from what I can tell, didn't have a violent bone in her body. She reached down slowly and very, very gently picked me up.

My warmth must have surprised her, since her eye widened before a small smile appeared and she carefully tilted me back and forth in front of her, examining me. I wondered suddenly, if this girl had anyone to play with or talk to? Aside from maybe Glossaryck? Her mother Rhina certainly wasn't here, keeping an eye on her young daughter. And her father… well he was an abusive dick, from what I Saw. He was also dead, and I really couldn't blame Rhina for 'accidentally' killing him.

Wait, speaking of-

I turned my attention back to Celena as she lifted one of my legs and wiggled it. She was… half Mewman. Rhina's husband was this dimension's equivalent of a 'demon'. And yet, she looked almost entirely Mewman. I wonder if that's why she was allowed to stay? That, or the Magic High Commission gave the 'ok' when they allowed/forced the marriage to go through. Goodness knows Rhina didn't love that man one bit. Uuugh, drama.

And after all that… this girl spends her days alone here in the palace as her mother essentially ignores her? Ugh. No wonder she was so timid. And I found myself getting side tracked away from the reason I came here in the first place.

"Hey, what do you like to do?" I asked. Celena blinked and shrugged. I wasn't discouraged, I was used to talking to someone who didn't talk back. "Well, I like learning and teaching things to people. Kinda like Glossaryck, now that I think about it." I didn't really like being compared to him though. "Well, do you wanna learn about stuff?" she thought about it before nodding.

I giggled. "Alright! All the cosmic secrets of the universe, coming right up! Mwahahahaha!" she smiled, shoulders shaking in silent laughter of her own.

"So~ has anyone ever taught you about space~?" I glowed faintly. She shook her head, but looked quite eager to listen. I spent the rest of the day teaching her about the stars, planets and solar system. We even went up to the tallest tower so I could point them out to her once it got dark enough. I mean, their family was named after the celestial bodies, so it was very odd to me that they didn't teach astronomy to people. Well, it was something I was gonna fix. And Celena was an eager student, gazing up at the sky, utterly enraptured by my ramblings about orbits, the day/night cycles and the passage of 'time' as indicated by the turning of the planet to and away from the local star/sun. She also showed me her room, her bottles and makeshift potions. She called them potions (speaking in such a soft voice I could barely hear), but they were more like perfumes made from various flowers, herbs and oils she found and collected. She was so proud of them and I told her that her potions were wonderful. She practically beamed. What a sweet child.

Eventually she yawned and I realized just how much time had gone by. We did take a break to eat snacks throughout the day, but she was still a child. "Come on little one. To bed with you." I tutted, floating up and tugging lightly at her hand. She followed me, rubbing at her eye as I found the bathroom and helped her get ready for bed. She cleaned her teeth with a clean de-barked stick and washed her face. And it was as I was brushing her hair that I noticed it.

As her hair was brushed away from her face, I saw her other eye.

There's her demon blood.

She squeaked and ducked her head, hiding her face once more. "I'm sorry…" She was tense.

"Don't be sorry, you did nothing wrong." I said gently. "May I see?"

She peeked up at me, and finally, she nodded. I brushed her hair back. It wasn't too obvious, but her other eye was a slightly different color, with a mildly elongated pupil. It wasn't very noticeable at all. But it was something. I wonder if Celena was told/taught to hide her eye. I tried not to let it bother me and continued brushing her hair, fixing it up and giving her a little pat on the head. "There you are, all brushed. Off to bed now." she smiled, pattering off while holding my hand.

I tucked her into bed, patting her head. I noticed Glossaryck was there, floating beside her bed. Celena glanced over at him eagerly. Oh? Glossaryck gave me a look like 'don't you dare laugh' before he cleared his throat and began singing a lullaby. I was trying very hard not to laugh. It was good that Glossaryck was helping out with Celena a little. I wonder if he normally plays with her. He probably did, if the way Celena was smiling at him meant anything. This actually made me feel a little more relieved. So Glossy was capable of caring. I almost thought he didn't.

And while watching Celena drift off to sleep, I took this time to quietly leave the room.

I had a queen to talk to.

Entering Rhina's dreams was easy. She had no protections what-so-ever. And once I was in and got a good Look around… hoo boy. What a mess.

I wasn't just disappointed by the mess, I was disturbed. This woman… literally used magic to change her own mind. To make herself love her husband. The one who took advantage of this fact to abuse her for years. I rubbed around my eye, a bit of a headache forming. These fucking idiots. Worse, from what I've Seen, Rhina wasn't the first queen to do this. Learned this shit from her mother, of course.

...there was no fucking way in hell I was going to let Celena try this shit once she was older.

I found Rhina in her dreamscape, engrossed within a dream about puzzles. Hm, I appreciate the nerdiness, but as Queen, she has actual responsibilities she shouldn't be ignoring!

Yes I realize I'm being hypocritical again. I had responsibilities I didn't want either. And I can see why Eclipsa just decided to 'nope' right out of here the first chance she got. She never wanted to be queen. And neither did Rhina. I sighed. Fine, I wouldn't be too hard on her. I straightened my bowtie and made sure I was looking my best before I approached her.

"Hello, Rhina Butterfly."

She turned towards me, her eyes going wide. Now, either she was going to freak out because I was a 'monster' or-

"Oh! What are you?" And there she went, invading my personal space. I slapped her hands away when she tried grabbing me. "Excuse me, it's rather rude to just grab someone." I scolded. She shrugged. "Inquiring minds do wonder. Now, what exactly are you? I've never seen a Monster like you before."

"I'm not a monster, and calling anything that's not a Mewman a Monster is wildly inaccurate. There are hundreds of distinct species/tribes of indegenous people here and lumping them all together as 'monster' is very rude and-"

"Perfectly straight lines. How does that even work…" Rhina wasn't even listening to me. I sighed. "You know there are people being killed everyday? Think of all the cultures being lost! The species that would go extinct-"

"Yeah, yeah, sure. But seriously, what are you?"

She really wasn't going to listen to me.

"I'm a Flatlander." I sighed. "Specifically, I'm a triangle."

"Oh! So there are other shapes as well?" Rhina's eyes widened. "Like circles and squares?"

"Used to be. It's just me now." I deadpanned. She blinked. "Just you?"

"I'm the last of my kind, as it were." I shrugged. "There are other shape-type species out there, but my people are gone."

She actually looked… almost sympathetic. "You're the last one?"

"I have a son, that's… about it." I shrugged. I shook off my melancholy. "That's not the point." I twirled my cane and gave Rhina a pointed look. "There are a lot of other species, living right out there, who are going to end up like me, alone and all my people gone, if this stupid conflict keeps going on."

"My mother appointed a ruler for the Monsters. They're doing fine." Rhina shrugged.

"No, they're not doing fine." I deadpanned. "There are people out there going hungry and struggling with homelessness."

"And what do you want me to do? Open Mewni to allow them in? So they could live in my kingdom?"

"This was their land to begin with!" I threw my hands in the air. "Your ancestors came here, and just wanted a place to live. I don't blame them for that. But there were 'monsters' already living here, and your people chased them off. And this has been happening for literally hundreds of years!"

Rhina sighed. "Even if that were true, the monsters haven't been all that nice either. They kill mewmans too." she straightened. "We queens might have power and magic, but the general populace don't. And they're the ones who get hurt from monster attacks."

"Then why not just leave? I know a place with plenty of room for your people to live, and nice fertile grounds for farming corn." I enticed her.

"Nah." she shot me down flat. I blinked. "Nah?"

"This is our home. I've lived here all my life. And my people have lived here all their lives."

"But there's a place that's better."

"Have you asked the monsters if they want to move there?" Rhina raised an eyebrow at me. I twitched. "You have, and they turned you down as well?" she shook her head. "Look, we're not going to leave our homes. The unhappy relations with monsters is a problem, but I'm not going to leave. And neither are they."

"Why?" I just had to know.

"Because we're not going to run away. Maybe this was the monster's home before, but it's our home now." she turned away from me. "And I may not be doing much for the war effort, but as long as my people are alive and relatively happy, we're good."

I sighed. Fine then. So that's how it was. Maybe I really was gonna have to wait for that Star girl to be born in the future. I dunno. Never watched the show, kinda just guessing she's gonna do something about this mess. Fuck it.

...I really was just giving up from sheer frustration. Ugh. What's wrong with me? It's like my motivation to do anything at all about this place just… up and leaves the longer I'm here.

There's something seriously wrong with this dimension.

I shook my head, slapping myself a few times. I couldn't stay here any longer. What if this lack of drive and motivation was contagious? Ugh. I left Rhina's dream, after putting down a riddle, just for the heck of it.

What disappears as soon as you say it's name?

An easy one, but she liked riddles and puzzles, I couldn't help wanting to give her something.

I groaned as I Blinked out of that dimension. Didn't like it there.

Gonna check on Earth, make sure they're not gonna be as stupid as this.

- (3kBC Egyptians made papyrus paper- egyptian calendar- Mumufication- writing in egypt finalized. Recorded history. Oracle bone script in china

The Egyptians made paper out of papyrus. Woo~ you go dudes! Smash that plant pulp into shape! Write on it! Draw on it! Please record stuff. The stone carvings are great, long lasting, good. But they took waaaay too long to make. And they weren't easy to lug around so more people could see them. But paper? That rocks!

Also, they've started mummifying people. Ew. It was like the bog bodies all over again, but kinda worse and better at the same time? I stared at the process of them taking the rich man apart, pulling out his organs and such. Of course it was a rich man, it cost money to get preserved in this way after all. The embalmers worked really hard, and had to be very well trained and taught to do this. Huh, commissioned mummification. This was so gross, but I couldn't look away. Seriously, the skill that went into this. The knowledge of anatomy that had to be… wait, were these guys…

...wow. They really were. I remembered teached a few priests about anatomy once, for fun. Because they asked. They really went all out with checking this stuff out and then making a business out of it?

Drying the body out was the main thing. Less moisture, less decay. I didn't mind that part, I hated the slimeyness of rotting flesh. Though, the leathery texture of a dried out corpse was pretty fucked up too.

Weird how they didn't think the brain was worth keeping intact like the heart or intestines.

I watched them pack the body full of natron salt (Na2CO3·10H2O, NaHCO3) which was sorta like some kind of salt/baking soda mixture, to help suck out any and all moisture. They found this naturally occurring mixture in dried up lake beds and used it as a cleaning powder (soap, antiseptic, teeth-paste/wash, etc) or anything else they could think to use it for (insecticide) most of the time. Then humans also realized it could be used for preserving and drying meat or fish (as well as making leather) due to the drying process, as well as making it so bacteria couldn't grow on things that were coated with it (they might not know what bacteria were, but they understood it's effects just fine and had even learned how to mitigate the effects of it). Which they then went with the logical conclusion that it could be used to dry a human body for preservation as well.

And they tried it out. And it worked. And now I was watching them pour this salt all over the body after stuffing the insides with it.

Damn, humans were so innovative and I loved them for it.

They would find any material and figure out how many different ways it could be used. Like how they found, through experimentation, that it could be used to make burnable light sources that didn't create smoke, allowing them to use them inside tombs and temples without leaving soot everywhere.

I know humans would eventually stop using natron once baking soda and other sodas started being made. It was just easier to use the commercially produced products rather than trek out to the local dried water bed and search for it. It wasn't like all lakes had high levels of sodium carbonate to begin with, so it got rarer over time. And of course humans would invent things that would replace it. They always have. Used up a resource until there wasn't enough left, then find an alternative.

...this was a point of human nature that I both loved and was frustrated by.

I was still annoyed at the Egyptians for believing they could take their belongings with them into the afterlife. Then again, it's not like they'd even notice a difference. Since I didn't create an afterlife dimension to store their Souls, they just got taken by dad when they passed on.

...should I set up my personally owned dimensions as an afterlife? It would help populate them. They were so empty right now. The only Soul I had was MoZha and she was still asleep, had been for centuries, as I tried to figure out what to do with her. I wanted her back. Alive and aware and with me. But I didn't want her to be all alone. Hm. Could I make my dimension an afterlife of sorts for people? I'll need to ask dad about that.

-...your own afterlife?- Ax asked slowly. -For how long will you keep them?-

I shrugged. "Until they want to leave?" I patted his arm. "Then I send them back to you."

Dad thought about it. -This will be a lot of responsibility, are you sure you're ready for this?-

"I mean… it'll only be for a little while, just to see if I can do it right." I wiggled. "Please?" I begged as I widened my eye and blinked up at him adorably.

(-_-)

What sort of response was that dad?!

-Be very careful. Call me if anything goes wrong-

Oh? So he… he was giving me the go ahead?! Oh wow! I vibrated in place. Wow wow wow!

My delight at being allowed to do this was quickly superseded by my anxiety over what was going to happen. Ah! Nooo! Ax actually patted my side very carefully. -Please calm yourself-

I wheezed. "I'm okay! I c-can do this! Yes!"

-...perhaps you should practice with something less…- Ax seemed to struggle a little. -...stress inducing… try an afterlife for animals first?-

"Yeah… maybe I should start smaller…." I flopped over onto his arm, exhausted from just thinking about it.

I wonder if any of the other Bill Ciphers ever tried something like this? Creating an afterlife for people. I know Blue owned a few dimensions with his 'die and come back to life' set up. (I caught glimpses of them while I was Scanning his 'set. It was very well encrypted though. Took me like… er… how long has it been since I've seen Blue? Like… a few million years now. (Geez I miss him. But the painful loneliness had somewhat lessened. It wasn't gone, but I was just… tired. Tired of wondering. Tired of waiting for him to come back. Tired of being upset at him for not keeping his promise to me. Too tired to even be mad at him anymore. Whatever. I couldn't go see him when I was feeling lonely. That's fine. I got other people. People who were available. I still didn't think Blue was shutting me out on purpose. But it didn't make me feel any better.) Anyway, I finally managed to decrypt some of the things I've Seen while in his 'set. As well as some of the things I Saw while I was up with his AXOLOTL.

...speaking of AXOLOTLs...

(Ax's POV)

"Hey dad, do you get to see what the other AXOLOTLs are doing?"

I blinked slowly down at my daughter. Bill was rocking absently as she sat on my arm. "I mean like, I can't see what the other Bills are doing. You said I shouldn't. And I don't really know how to do it anyway. And I feel like even if I did, I wouldn't be able to see Seb or Blue. Like, they're also Bill Ciphers, or former in Seb's case, but they're not me. And from what you've said on the subject, and with how much Time Baby complains, I'm guessing that the other Mes I could potentially See through and connect with would be other versions of me." she rambled, tapping her fingers along my arm. "Which is kinda weird to think about, but if we take the idea that any major change or choice can create another dimension and all that, there's a very high possibility that there are actual alternative mes out there somewhere, which I could potentially open myself to and-" she rocked herself all the way back and laid down on my arm, staring up at me.

"-and it's these other mes that you're afraid of me connecting with, right?"

-Frankly, if I have to be honest, I didn't like the idea of you meeting with any of the other Bill Ciphers. Whether they were a you or not-

"Oh?" Bill kicked her legs in the air.

-I like Sebastian though. He is good for you-

"Really?!" Bill perked right up, vibrating in place. Then her bricks dulled a little and she narrowed her eye. "...and Blue?"

I remained silent. Bill patted my arm. "Daaaaaad~" I didn't want to tell her, but Jheselbraum had scolded me rather sternly about trusting my daughter. She was very insistent about it. About how I owed Bill some honesty, how it would be good for her mental health. I didn't know much about mental health, especially not a Bill Cipher's, but I did want to make an effort. So even though I felt like the truth would only upset her, I decided to tell Bill.

-If he hadn't truly loved you, as twisted as it were, I would have struck him down the instant he came here- I admitted. I saw the way Bill tensed up. It pained me to see the worry in her gaze. And then she shuddered and clenched her little hands into my arm. "Thank you for not killing him."

-Sometimes I think I should have. Considering how much he's hurt you-

"It's not like that." Bill said quietly. "He's just… got his own ideas of what relationships are like." she looked uncomfortable. "I hurt him too. And I think the Door problem is from his AXOLOTL..."

-Even if you did hurt his feelings, it doesn't change the fact that you were in pain-

And Bill looked to be struggling with something.

"It's not a big deal. He's been gone for a while anyway. And I… I'm ok with waiting. He'll come back if he does." she didn't sound all that happy. "I'm fine dad, seriously." she huffed at me. -You aren't fine. Even if it's been years and years, the fact that you still check his Door every night means you're still hurting because of him-

I could see Bill look a little uncomfortable. "What is it that you're trying to say here? What do you want?" she asked. I sighed. -I won't ask you to forget about him. I know you love him. Even if he… hurt you- I felt a little hypocritical. How much of what I wanted right now was just a reaction to seeing how my daughter dealt with Blue? -Being so dependant on him, emotionally, isn't… good for you-

"I love him." she said stubbornly. I sighed. -I know…- and that is why I never wanted her going out there. My daughter was too loving. And of course, one of those other Bills has taken advantage of it. And there wasn't anything I could do.

...but if that 'Blue' ever came by again, after hurting her this much with his absence, what should I do? I would like to strike him down. But Bill would never forgive me. But should I do it anyway, because it was good for her? That was my excuse for most everything I ended up doing, the restrictions I put in place.

...but striking down someone she loved… that would be crossing a line. I didn't want to have to think about this, this choice I could make.

"-and I think about how much Minecraft I should make? I mean, who doesn't love Minecraft?"

...I have completely lost where this conversation was going. Not an uncommon occurrence when speaking with my daughter. She was now talking about whether or not to include something called a… Mo'Creatures mod? -I'm sure they would… enjoy it. At least for a while...-

"Well, I'm gonna have a trial run, a few dozen human souls from Earth from different countries, see how well that works out." Bill rubbed her bricks. "Maybe send Facey to take care of stuff? I mean, that's kinda their job? Oh, I hope the humans don't freak out over what he looks like…"

-Perhaps a robe?-

"Great idea! I should give them a maid outfit! No one can be afraid of someone in a maid outfit!"

I suddenly felt very sorry for Facey.

(Back to Bill's POV)

Well, just finished dropping off the first batch of Souls. MoZha was thrilled to see me. Rather weirded out by Facey. At least none of the humans were screaming. They were confused, more than anything.

"What is this place? What are you?" One of them asked. I tipped my hat at them all. "Hello! I'm god, I guess? Either way, this is the afterlife. It's still a work in progress. Please take this time to check it out, explore to your heart's content, and don't forget to fill out this little questionnaire to give us feedback so that more improvements can be made! Isn't that right, Facey?"

"Kill me..." the angel ground out as the frilly bow flopped over one of their faces.

"Ahahaha! Right!" I grinned at the humans. "So? Off you go. I've got plenty of beautiful scenery, lush mountains and clean rivers for you to play and explore!"

MoZha was a little confused by all this, but she was already cautiously making her way to a nearby river.

"Where are the slaves who would see to my every need?" One of the other humans asked.

"Ahahahahaa! HAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!" I cackled. "AHAHAHAHAHA- that's not how things work." I spun my cane and floated down to stand primly before them all. "I have some Care Units who can help you out, but slaves aren't really a thing. I thought about making enough Units to do everything, but I thought it would get boring. And stagnant. If you do not like this… open sandbox, please fill out this questionnaire with your suggestions on how to make it better." I gestured to the tables laid out with papers on top.

"I would like to explore first." MoZha told me, grinning from ear to ear. She paused for a moment. "You know, if I get bored, can I return to the cycle of rebirth?" she heard about it from me after all. I nodded. "You're all free to leave anytime you want." I paused. "And if you feel like you don't have enough choices in what you can or can't do, please write that in the questionnaire. Remember, I can't fix anything if you don't tell me what's wrong."

They all looked so very confused. Ehhhh looks like I need some work in my sales pitch? Not that anyone had a choice in buying into this. I simply grabbed the people who believed there would be an afterlife. Not a hard thing to set up. I patted Facey's… shoulder-face(?) "Ok, you're in charge here, I need to go work on other stuff now.

The angel sighed. "Alright. I shall try my best."

"That's what I like to hear!" I cheered.

After all that, I felt it would be nice to head back to Seb's 'set and relax for a while.

I gave Blue's Door a customary test as I went past. Still locked.

I couldn't just stay there forever, waiting for him, so I floated past and into Seb's door without much fuss.

(This segment takes place during Slices of Life and Family: Chapter 40)

Ford told me he had an idea for how I could have children. Oh right, I asked him that months ago. Well, I didn't think he'd actually put in the time and effort to give me a response. And now here I was, implanting the broken piece of my… Piece, into my womb as Yun. Ok, maybe it wasn't a good idea, but it was the only thing I could thing of. I was freaking panicking already? The piece was broken into many pieces and-

To be honest, I've been curious about pregnancies for a while. Damn, seeing everyone having kids was making me-

So. Either way.

I… was technically pregnant now. I had Shape pieces inside my womb and I was thrilled/scared/ terrified/ and all sorts of good stuff. I patted my belly, realizing I couldn't leave and go back to my own side until after I gave birth. I couldn't just… leave the children alone.

"Yun, are you sure you want this?" Fordsie, sweet, concerned Fordsie, patted my shoulders.

"Y-yes." I patted my belly, it wasn't much, since the pieces were so small, but I knew it was going to get larger. And a part of me was shivering in anticipation for it all.

...I couldn't head out and back to my 'set, but I wasn't too worried. Progressive time and all that could be ignored somewhat. I did send a quick message to tell my friends I was ok.

Their reaction to the news of my pregnancy was… mixed.

"Hey guys, I'm preggers!" I typed into the group chat.

"So you and Ford finally did it?" Pyronica's text was littered with hearts and smooches. I rolled my eye. "No, I'm having an asexual reproduction thing, but I am going to have them on this side, can't move while I'm carrying them." I was kinda stuck here after all. But it didn't feel like being stuck. After all, it was an excuse to keep hanging out with Fordsie and everyone else. A real vacation, as it were.

"Congratulations." Keyhole's grin could practically be heard over the phone. "I'm sure they'll be adorable."

Awww~ thanks Keyhole~

"Do take care." Hectorgon worried. "Is it safe over there for you to carry them to full term?"

"It's safe. I'm safe, don't worry so much~"

"So we're gonna have more babies? I bet Toobie would love playmates." 8-Ball seemed happy about it.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Teeth worried. "I mean… considering what happened… um…"

"I know. But I'm prepared for that possibility this time. It's all good." I assured them all.

"Thank void it's only another shape baby." Kryptos sent over the chat. "Are they going to be like Ammy?"

"I would very much be interested to meet another of our kind." Ammy agreed.

"Here's hoping." I sighed, patting my belly. A bleep from my phone had a short video of Xanthar and PaciFire dancing. Looks like some of them were super excited for this.

Once I was sure my friends were informed and thus, ready to meet their eventual new nibling, I laid back on Ford's bed, which I had more or less claimed for my own. Bahahaha!

"You told them?" Ford asked, lying beside me, sitting up just as I was with our backs against the headboard. I had multiple pillows around me. I nodded, shifting to lie against his shoulder. "I'm so excited." I couldn't help squealing.

"Well don't get too excited. Don't want to set the room on fire." Ford chuckled.

We sat in companionable silence for a while. Him, writing in his journal. Me, caressing my belly.

Ford turned to me after a while. "I never got around to asking but… what exactly was the moe-button that I hit for you?" he asked, as a continuation of another conversation we've had. I blinked and looked away. "Erm…" it was a little embarrassing, not for me, but for him, possibly? "Princess Unattainabelle."

"..." Ford said.

"..." I responded.

"You have weird taste." Ford pointed out. I groaned, pushing at his face. "It was the moment I realized you were a fucking dork! And I thought it was super endearing."

He laughed, reaching up to ruffle my hair. "Well, I'm glad you like dorks." he kept his hand there, on my head. "...yours was when you gave me a journal."

My eyes widened. "Really?" I stared. "From way back then?"

"Well, it was just a moment. I mean, you hit more buttons as I got to spend more time with you."

I grinned, nuzzling into his side. "Well, yeah. I guess that goes for me too."

"Really? What other buttons have I hit?"

"The funny thing your eyebrows do when you're thinking really hard." I purred.

"And what did that show you?" He raised said eyebrows. I reached up to trace my fingers across them. "That you're absolutely adorable." he flushed. "Another one is your grip." I told him.

"My… grip?" he looked confused.

"Hm~" I pressed myself against him. "Firm and fierce when you're trying to protect those you care for. I felt that firsthand when you mistook me for some kind of burglar and your first thought was to pin me down to protect Zach and Zoe." I tugged on his hand gently until he lowered it and I could place it against my cheek. "Gentle and soft when you're using it to care for those you love." I breathed. "I can feel it in your touch." I moved his hand down from my face to my belly. He stiffened a little before relaxing and very gently moving his hand, rubbing me.

"I suppose that is an adequate reason." he said with a twitching smile he was trying to hide.

I leaned up and kissed his chin, relaxed and happy.

"Well," Ford moved his arm to pull me closer against his side. "That little squeak you make when you hiccup is one of my favorite sounds in the world."

"Aaaaahh Fordsie~!" I giggled as I felt myself flushing.

"And the look on your face when you get really into explaining an anime to me is something I treasure." he added, looking quite smug at how flustered I was getting.

"I thought you didn't want me setting your room on fire." I pouted. Not that I think I'd start burning, but the build up of Weirdness was starting to get to me.

"Fine, I'll stop for now…." he gave me a cheeky little grin. The ass.

"I didn't say I wanted you to stop." I curled my fingers along his chest hair. He was sleeping shirtless despite the cold weather outside. I was just that warm. "I'll redirect some to refill the Center's storage batteries."

"Oh, thank you."

"Don't thank me, compliment me." I whined.

"Alright, alright." he wiggled until he was lying down, with me lying on top of his chest. I was still trailing a hand along his chest as he caressed one of my free hands, watching the melanin swirl. "You're a scientific marvel. Breathtaking to behold."

"You really have gotten better at flirting." I purred, feeling the roiling heat burn through me.

"You make it too easy, there are so many wonderful things I can say about you."

"Ok, my turn~" I sang. We traded compliments through the night until we drifted off to sleep.