A/N: Aaaand here's Chapter Seventeen, again earlier than expected. I'm going to start updating on Thursdays now, and have double-chapter weeks when a chapter has a really harsh cliffhanger - like the kind that either abruptly ends a chapter or is the kind that just you can't wait another week for the next part - or is just REALLY short - the latter is most likely, however. I would also like to thank all those favorites and follows! I love those, but I love reviews just as much, if not more, so please leave a review as well if you have time. So, that said, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It continues RIGHT from the previous chapter, so you may want to refresh yourself.
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A Triangle in the Stars
Chapter Seventeen: Dealing with Demons and Failing Trust
After a while of silence and recomposition, Steven stood, and walked over to the strange gem. He bubbled it, just as Bill had predicted, and made it vanish in light, to a room deep inside the Temple. He looked over at Bill, questions on his mind.
"When... when that guy possessed me... I heard what he said about you. What you did..." Steven started, biting his lip.
Bill looked up at Steven, snapping out of his trance, and his frown deepened. He didn't say anything though.
"Is what he said true?" Steven finally asked, staring right back at Bill, unblinking. "Are you a murderer?"
Bill tensed up, growling slightly. He nodded before long. He couldn't hide it anymore. Gabriel messed up everything. He could only hope Steven looked past it all. For his plan to work...
"Then... I can only ask... why did you spare me?" Steven asked, watching him slowly, carefully.
The demon stared at Steven. Many different answers soared throughout his mind, one of which was: I'm not a wanton killer, kid!
But he didn't say that. It'd make things worse. Besides, in truth, he didn't really know what to say now. He had thought Steven would bail on him the moment he said yes to that previous question. He was confused once more, when he was faced with this one. Why did he spare the kid?
He twitched, staring at his hands again, before, finally, he replied, rather softly, "I.. I'm actually trying to figure that out myself..."
Steven said nothing for a moment. His voice quivered as he began to speak again, "A-are you going to st-steal my soul...?"
Bill narrowed his eye at the kid, and then shook himself as an answer, remaining unusually silent now. He couldn't quite think right. He felt very much like those computers in that one lab. And it didn't feel good.
"...he also told me you did all this to the school. Is that true too?" Steven was close to tears now. All his hard work... he bitterly remembered how he boasted to that redhead chick that he had begun to inspire change in Bill. How wrong he had been. Everything seemed to fit now...
The demon now fully registered Steven in his vision, and saw those tears. He twitched. He didn't want to see that, but it was now for a different reason. It wasn't "they meant nothing to him" anymore. Not quite anyway. He couldn't put a finger on it all.
He frowned, clenching his fists, and nodded; lies would get him nowhere now. It wasn't quite satisfying anymore, the chaos. Right now anyway. He didn't know what it was that was making him feel this way. But he hated it. He wanted it to go away.
The boy sighed, "Let's just... go. There's more monsters to fight." Steven started walking out of the foyer and down the hall.
Bill sighed too. He began floating after Steven. He looked at the lights, the lights still programmed to flicker and shut off when the halls were crowded. He frowned and then snapped his fingers. The lights were now fixed. He still felt bad, even worse because he was reversing what he had done to achieve chaos. The demon grunted with an indistinguishable emotion, looking around.
A sound soon echoed throughout the hallway. A loud, thumping sound. Everything seemed to jump when it came... then, at the end of this hallway, there appeared what seemed to be an enormous purple bread block with thick limbs and no face.
"What is that?" Steven asked in a whisper, his eyes wide, not feeling quite up to fighting it.
A flicker of a smile crossed Bill's eye. That was one of his friends. He whispered to Steven, "Oh, that's Xanthar. Though his name isn't meant to be said. We're friends."
"F-friends?" Steven iterated, a little confused, almost upset. You're friends with that? he almost seemed to say.
Bill grinned, but it was sad. He knew what Steven implied with that. The demon had said he'd explain where he came from, though, so when it came time for it, it would probably clear all that up. He soon replied, "Yeah, friends. Soooo... with that, maaaaaaybe I might be able to talk him into going back home."
After it was out of his metaphorical mouth, he couldn't believe he had said such a thing... but he couldn't take it back.
Steven stepped back. "Go ahead. I'll... I'll just watch, I guess."
He was still recovering from what Gabriel did to his body, and didn't want it to happen again. Bill nodded, and then floated up to Xanthar, grinning, "Ey, Xanthar! buddy! long time no see, eh?"
It really was quite a long time. He estimated that it was about half a year since Weirdmaggedon. He was hoping Xanthar still remembered him, but really, how could he forget? most demons had a memory span, in both short and long, far less faulty than humans anyway. The beast nodded, or so it seemed. Steven watched with both wonder and terror.
Bill smiled out of relief, "I assume you'd been doing great! have ya?"
"The Nightmare Realm has really been something else without you, Bill," a feminine voice announced, answering the demon's question. From behind Xanthar stepped a lady in pink, who appeared to be wearing flames. She had just a single eye, and two horns protruding from her head. Steven gasped when he saw her, wondering just how many of these monsters were roaming about the school now.
"It has?" Bill glanced at his other friend. Pyronica. He smiled slightly, "Please do tell me how it's been."
The mission to ask Xanthar to go home was forgotten. He wanted now to catch up with his old friends at least for a little while.
"Horrific. Without you there... all the demons have turned on each other, fighting to be boss of everyone else!"
"Demons?" whispered Steven, eyes widening.
"Really? that's not good at all!" Bill's eye widened. How could he ever ask them to go back home when everything was so bad, worse than ever?
"And your brother returned from his imprisonment! he took over the entire realm before we came here!" she exclaimed, clearly frazzled.
Bill growled, hands clenched, "That lousy..." but he didn't finish the sentence. He knew Steven was listening.
"He's really upset about everything. I'd watch your back if I were you—he wants to get vengeance for what you did."
"Yeah, but we kinda already ran into him..." Steven said, stepping forward. Bill glanced over at Steven, narrowing his eye slightly. He sighed, but didn't protest against this, and nodded.
Xanthar couldn't speak, but he rumbled a little bit, "looking" towards the boy now. He seemed to be asking who he was.
"What is this? Bill, are you traveling with a human boy?" Pyronica sounded and looked pretty disgusted.
"Hey, knock it off!" Bill snapped slightly. The demon then briefly wondered why he defended Steven like that, and so quickly too. He sighed eventually, rubbing his closed eye, "He's not exactly human, anyway. Well, not all the way."
Xanthar seemed to take interest in Steven, still "staring" his way. He rumbled some more.
"Yeah! I'm part Gem!" he pulled up his shirt to reveal his gem, which Pyronica stared at blankly. Xanthar seemed to smile.
"But you're still getting close to him?" she asked, her eye flickering to Bill now.
"He's got powers!" the demon exclaimed slickly. It wasn't the whole reason he was hanging with the kid. Heck, it wasn't even by choice. But he only said that to save Steven's skin, for some reason. "He'll be able to help us with our problem."
Joy began exuding from the purple demon's aura. Overall, he seemed less judgmental of Steven and more intrigued and surprised. He made some noises, giddy and excited.
"What problem?" Steven asked, clearly confused.
"But he's—he's a kid!" Pyronica complained, her resolve weakening.
"Yeah, a kid who regularly went on missions with the Crystal Gems! I'm sure you've heard of them in some form or fashion," Bill crossed his arms, staring her down.
It's my adopted brother. The realm I'm from is now under his rule and other demons are currently fighting against each other to change that. Weren't you listening? he transmitted that thought only to Steven, frowning slightly.
Steven gasped, "Ohhhhh. That make sense."
She sighed. "Fine. You're the boss, anyway," she crossed her arms, and looked away, clearly not happy with the whole situation.
"Good," Bill smiled slightly. "Now, to round up the others..."
Xanthar immediately started walking away, most likely to find the others. He let off some more rumbling noises, showcasing how eager he was to eventually work with Steven and find out how the boy worked.
"The entire crew came through. We all split up to try and find you."
"I see... well, this school's not really that big, and it's empty, so that makes things easier on us..." he rubbed at his "chin".
"What are we going to do? a full-scale Weirdmaggedon, this time?" she smirked, raising her eyebrow, clearly excited about the idea. Bill shook himself as an answer. He was still much too weak for that anyway.
"Wh-what's Weirdmaggedon?" asked Steven, frowning, raising a hand.
The demon pointedly ignored Steven's question, and mentally told Pyronica not to tell him either. She nodded, and the boy lost heart after about a few more seconds of silence passed, lowering his hand.
"Well, I say we go after your brother first. He's going to be a bit of a problem—he recruited some of our old friends. Keyhole, I think. And Hectorgon, as well as Kryptos," she shook her head, sighing.
"What?!" Bill growled. While he reacted with anger, it also hurt. Those three, Kryptos in particular, were some of his closest friends. And now they joined the likes of his adopted brother?! ...he felt betrayed. The demon clenched his fists, his pupil flashing a deep crimson. "I'll kill him!"
Obviously shattering and scattering his soul wasn't good enough for him... the triangle ranted to himself.
Steven watched this with wide eyes, trying his best not to show how terrified he was now.
"But I'm not entirely sure who's on whose side. So definitely watch your back," Pyronica sighed. "We shouldn't waste time. Every moment your fake brother's forces are getting farther and farther away. We need to find them—for sure."
"Right.." the demon calmed himself down, and then, sparing only a glance at Steven, began levitating in the direction Xanthar had gone. Pyronica walked beside him. Steven followed silently, trying to understand exactly what was going on here.
The boy. Why do you keep him around? don't you realize how weak he's making you? asked Gabriel, exclusively to Bill through a psychic link. We don't have to be enemies, Bill. You just gotta say sorry... and give me the boy's soul, and we'll call it even.
N. O. No. You're joking. And I shouldn't have to apologize for what you and my family did to me... Bill's eye narrowed. He checked a room. It was the computer lab. He snapped his fingers and the computers were back in working order, and maybe even a little bit better.
One last chance, brother. Or we'll all destroy you. Return the favor. Unless you're willing to return it yourself.
You're not getting Steven's soul, Gabriel. And you're not my brother! the demon then whacked off the psychic connection the best he could, his aura slightly burning with anger. But it wasn't good enough.
Fine. I see how it is! you know what? I'd rather have your soul instead, anyway! I'll enjoy devouring it! and then he laughed maniacally. Soon, that laughter faded into nothing, but still seemed to echo.
Steven frowned, "But what is Weirdmaggedon?"
Bill rubbed at his top point, trying to get the laugh out of his head. He sighed. He glanced at the boy, shaking himself, "You really don't wanna know..."
Steven sighed. "See, this is why I don't ask questions..." he shook his head. The demon stared a little sadly at Steven. The boy really shouldn't know, though. But, before he could say anything, a rhombic demon suddenly pushed past them and rushed down the hallway. Bill jumped a little out of shock.
The boy gasped, "What was that?" he turned to Pyronica. "How many more of you guys are there?"
She shrugged and made a noise that sounded like "I dunno".
"There's about nine of us..." Bill answered. And then loud thumping sounds, like footfalls, echoed throughout the school at a near rapid pace. Bill sweatdropped. Xanthar soon appeared at the end of the hallway, running directly towards them. The triangle's eye widened and he started to make a break for it, shouting, "RUN!"
Steven created a bubble around the three of them, and started running. He seemed confused more than ever now, and yelled out, "But I thought you said he was your friend!"
"No, Bill... it's not just the nine of us anymore, actually. There's new demons—you should have seen what Gabriel's done..." she shuddered, running too.
"He is, he's just after Kryptos and he often gets too excited and way too into his tasks!" Bill hurriedly stated, still running. And then he glanced at Pyronica, immediately frowning. He wanted to ask, but figured he'd ask later, when they weren't in danger.
Kryptos was sweating, far, far away from the group, not slowing down for anyone. He soon made a quick turn at the end. Xanthar was slowly gaining on all of them; he thought this was a more effective way of rounding up the Henchmaniacs, but in actuality he took it too literally.
Steven gasped, seeing a split in the hallway. "Which way did the guy go? we need to go the other way!" his terrified feet tapped against the ground.
"He went to the left!" Pyronica answered, trying to lead them to the right. Bill actually wanted to talk to Kryptos, try to get his side of the story, but figured that'd be later too. So he let Pyronica steer the bubble to the right, and helped a bit. Xanthar was a yard away at this point, hooting like an ape excitedly.
The bubble moved away, giving the purple demon clear passage to the left—assuming Kryptos had actually gone that way, and Pyronica was sure she was right. And Xanthar passed them by harmlessly, stampeding through the left hallway. Bill slumped against the bubble, sighing out of relief. The bubble dissipated. Steven sighed, "Man... that was close..." he sat, gasping for breath.
He still was winded from the powers that he had used while Gabriel controlled him. Bill fell against the floor, now that the bubble wasn't there to support him anymore. He grunted, eye narrowing. But he soon got over this, sighing, "You can say that again..."
Pyronica looked at the both of them, "Everyone alright?"
"Oh, definitely," he finally got up and started levitating again. He looked at Steven, waiting for his answer even though he already knew.
Steven nodded, "Just peachy!"
"Good... well, we know where Kryptos is now..." and then Bill stared evenly at Pyronica, and finally asked, "and what's that you said about 'new demons'?"
"Oh—he was taking the souls of those who were loyal to you, and ripping them into pieces, and sewing mismatched bits together to make newer, different demons..." she shuddered. Bill's eye was wide, and Steven's were too. She continued, "It wasn't right. I wouldn't stand for it. But it was either bow down or suffer the same fate... and I'm no heroic idiot... so here I am." She sighed.
It was like a record scratch suddenly tore through the air. Bill's eye started twitching and he started muttering under his breath things that weren't quite safe for children to hear. He eventually uttered, eye narrowed, "I'm gonna get him for this... I'm so gonna get him..."
This wasn't right at all. Gabriel seemed much worse than Bill was, actually. At least the triangle didn't take another demon's soul and mash it together with his.
"Be careful, Bill. He won't hesitate to do something like that to you..." she bit her lip, glancing at Steven, "or to the Gem kid."
The demon also glanced at Steven, and a flash of worry flitted across his eye. He suddenly didn't want anything bad happening to the kid, but he didn't exactly know why. He frowned, pondering whether Steven should sit this one out.
"C'mon, guys. We can't just stand here! we have to find everyone else, all the other... demons!" Steven accepted it now, that they were all demons.
"Right.." Bill sighed, rubbing at his top point. Would sending the boy home be good for him? or would it endanger him further? he looked down this hallway in particular, still conflicted, and then started making his way down it, hoping to find another of his friends. Hopefully one who wasn't currently being rounded up by Xanthar. Pyronica followed, and so did Steven.
"So, uh... do we have a plan to defeat your bro?" he pursed his lips.
"A plan... well, first, we have to get everyone who isn't working for him and regroup," the triangle stated, hand on his "chin".
"That's going to be tough. The lines are blurred a bit—many who are still loyal to you, like me, had to pretend to join the other side," she sighed, shaking her head.
"I see..." Bill sighed also, frowning. He looked into another room.
She nodded.
Steven glanced at Bill, and then asked, "Why can't you guys just all be friends?"
The demon shrugged, but answered, "Too much anger. I wish it were that easy though..."
He seemed a bit sad, though, his mind journeying through his past, his childhood. He closed the door and moved on, seeing that nothing of interest was in that room.
That and Bill'd have to give me your soul for anything like that to happen, Gabriel laughed, having reopened the psychic link. Bill's frown deepened. He quickened his step, hoping to run into another demon who was on his side.
Silence was thick in the air, aside from Steven's and Pyronica's feet tapping against the floor. Only this time, Bill was growing uncomfortable with it. He started rubbing at his arm, subconsciously, looking this way and that. The lights all over the school suddenly went out, so it was dark, as well as silent. Steven reacted with only a gasp. Bill frowned. His glow brightened, but it simply wasn't enough. He glanced over at Steven and at Pyronica, getting a bad feeling about this whole thing. Pyronica glowed, too, so that helped. Steven was behind the two, eyes flicking this way and that.
And then a loud noise came from the front. Like someone running... and something dropping. Steven gasped, and they all stopped.
"What was that...?" the demon whispered anxiously, pulling at his arm now.
"I think that's another one of them...!" Pyronica started running towards it. "Come on!"
"Alright!" Bill levitated, full speed ahead, after his friend. He hoped she was right...
And she was. Into view came a very frazzled set of teeth with gummy arms and legs, trying to run as fast as it could... but it was nowhere near fast enough to outrun Bill and Pyronica. Bill kept "running" for his friend, Teeth, calling for his name. He glanced back at Steven a few times, hoping the kid was right behind them.
It was impossible to see in the dim, but it looked like he was getting farther and farther, unable to keep up well. Teeth soon dove into a hallway, but it was unclear which one. Left or right... or forward. Three options.
Good thing there's three of you. Maybe you can find him this way... Gabriel taunted, laughing. Bill growled, batting at the air. As if it would do anything. He stopped right before the three-pronged fork in the hallway, and frowned. He didn't want to have to split them up, but he was simply too weak to duplicate himself. The triangle turned to them, waiting for Steven to catch up.
Steven soon came into view again, huffing and puffing. His eyes widened when he saw the split.
"Oh, boy, which hallway did he go down?" he asked, a little worried, concerned.
"I'm not sure..." Bill sighed. "We're gonna have to split up. One for each hallway... but... Steven," he looked at the boy, crossing his arms, a little worried, "you're still not entirely well, are you?"
"I'll be fine!" he formed a bubble around himself, and a shield in his hands. He stood up proudly. "See? I can perfectly manage myself!"
Pyronica tapped her feet. "We don't have time for this!" and she then darted down the left hallway.
Bill glanced in Pyronica's direction. And then he nodded at Steven, "Alright. Good... well, try not to die, alright?"
And then he, after tossing the kid a flashlight he managed to conjure up, turned away from the kid. He promptly rolled his eye at his worriment, and then proceeded to go down the middle hallway. That left the right for Steven, and he began down it, with a sigh. His bubble collapsed and his shield disappeared. He knew he was weak, and he knew he couldn't do this, never mind what he had said to Bill. He went into a nearby room, curled up, and fell asleep.
A/N: And that's that! one of the longest chapters here! and now you know the when of the setting in which this RP occurred! I hope you enjoyed! and this chapter, as you could tell, features Bill's Henchmaniacs. I played Xanthar - after Ace introduced him - Kryptos, and obviously Bill, and Ace had Pyronica, Gabriel, Teeth, and Steven. XP
Since the Henchmaniacs had little to no canon personality, we were allowed to take liberties on their characteristics. I hope you like what we did for them. XD
I also tossed a reference in there. Maybe you can find it. :3 You get a cookie if you do! X3
So, yeah, review please. It'd make my and Ace's day! or night... or whenever. XD And, if you don't have a review to leave, or are one of those guest reviews, then I'll see you Saturday or next week!