A/N: OH, THANK GOODNESS. SCHOOL IS OVER FOR ME. I had just come home from taking my last final, so now I have till January as a vacation! woo! so, as you can see, I decided not to release this Sunday like I did for the last, because that was unintentional anyways. So, I finally got a new review! lemme respond..
/Guest (EMObillcipher89): It's good to hear from you again! I thought something happened to you and everyone else. And yeah, Pearl was not happy at all; she was LIVID and horrifically sad. Not that it would have been any better if Garnet and Keyhole had told her straight away, but she was warned. Besides, well, she wouldn't have taken well to Bill anyway, I think. And yeah, poor, poor Bill.. it's like a trauma conga line. And, well... thankfully Bill is still largely impossible to kill without the proper equipment, but... yah... and MERRY EARLY CHRISTMAS TO YA TOO, DEAR. :3
Man, I need more people reviewing. If any of you can get the early reviewers to come back or review yourself or get more people reading this story, I'll be eternally grateful and so will Ace. And a shout out to Missabakuno! I'm glad you loved it enough to favorite it!
Now that we have that all taken care of, let's head on to the next chapter! wooo!
A Triangle in The Stars
Chapter Sixty-Six: Ill
Steven watched the door for a few minutes, before he walked over to bed and climbed onto it. He passed out moments later. The triangle then frowned, and got up from the couch. That Warp Pad just wouldn't leave his mind. It was the place where they discovered the Void. Perhaps...
And then the Temple Gate opened again, revealing Pearl. She saw everyone was gone, except for Bill, and she stepped back, obviously repulsed. She'd come out to do her round of cleaning, but regretted it now. She'd thought he left too. The demon looked up at her, and frowned just a little. It was clear he wasn't looking forward to her presence. She wasn't either, to his, but she stepped out anyway, into the room, and began silently picking up after the folks. Bill watched her, and Pearl tried to ignore the eye on her. After a while, she couldn't take anymore, and rounded on him, hissing, "Stop staring at me!"
And he did, directing his eye somewhere else, "S..sorry."
But now the Gem was staring at him, unable to tear her eyes away. It was quite hypocritical, but she had grown just a little curious. Bill didn't match her gaze for a while, but he soon grew tired of this examination. He looked at her, raising an eyebrow, and she jumped, and quickly returned to cleaning up. Soon, she was finished, and then retreated back into her room before either of them could say anything. The demon sighed, and returned his task to the Warp Pad, floating over to it. He stood on it, just like before, and activated it.
It made that familiar wooshing sound, as it brought him to the Kindergarten. It was as dead and quiet as ever. Bill jumped a little bit, looking around. He wasn't supposed to reach anything. He must've let his attention slip. The demon then activated it again, intent on breaking the stream. He had to prove his theory. And he hoped he was right. And after a minute, he would find himself in the cold darkness of the Void.
Bill knew this could equal a fate worse than death if he wasn't fast enough, but he barely cared. He had to find him. He cupped his hands, and was about to call, into the sheer darkness.
"William Nolis... I didn't expect to find you here again," rang the Void.
The demon flinched at this, especially at the name used, and nodded, "Y..yeah. I'm looking for my brother. Is he here, maybe?"
He cut to the chase rather quickly. There wasn't enough time for small talk. The curse could still be here. There was a heavy silence for a little while.
"No," the Void answered finally, truthfully.
"N..no?" his eye widened. Tears pricked at his eye and threatened to fall, but he wouldn't let them. "Wh..what do you mean 'no'?"
"I mean, your brother is not here. I do not know where he is now," it explained, with a strange, reverberating sigh.
Bill choked on a sob. He wasn't going to accept this yet. He then asked softly, "Was I too late..? o..or is he really...?"
He couldn't bear to finish the sentence, choking again. The little noises were heartrending to hear. There was silence again, before...
"I sent him away," it finally answered. "You should go, now. Your time is short."
William trembled for quite some time. He was coming to get him. Why didn't the Void wait? ..but that wouldn't have been fair. At least he knew Gabe was free. And alive. But they were now apart. Again. He soon brought himself back together, realizing his time was indeed short, and nodded, "Thank you..."
He then reactivated the stream, setting it back home, still trembling, still trying to be strong. The Warp Pad chimed and he materialized on it, shuddering, but then he heard Steven letting out whimpers. The demon sniffled and inwardly groaned, wiping away tears. He was hoping to just break down and weep in peaceful silence the moment he got home, but he had to comfort the boy. He sighed and headed up the stairs, "Kid..?"
He didn't respond, and his eyes were closed, and his breath harsh. His paler than pale face indicated that he may have a fever, but the only way to know for sure was if the demon would lay a hand on him. Bill approached him, and frowned softly. Guess the kid wasn't lying when he said he thought he was coming down with something. He placed a hand on his forehead, and nearly withdrew it due to how unusually hot it was. He tried to cure it, with good old magic. If this didn't work he would probably have to get Pearl, or Greg, and he wasn't looking forward to either. All thoughts of where his brother might be had vanished to the back of his mind. He had to take care of Steven now. He could worry about everything else later.
The boy seemed to cool down a little, but not too much. He still looked a little worse for wear. The triangle sighed of relief. At least it wasn't that bad now. He quickly thought up a plan. He decided Greg would be the lesser of two evils, and so brought up an outline of a smart phone and inputted his number. He may or may not have watched the boy's finger motions...
Greg picked up immediately. "Who is this?" he asked, a confused tone in his voice.
"Uhm, it's Bill," the triangle put a hand on his bowtie. He was expecting some backlash or something. He was evil, after all, and the two men Connie and Wendy no doubt told him about were supposed to have done him in.
"Bill?" he asked, dubious, not quite knowing who he was.
"Yeah, I'm that new roommate who called about a day or so ago?" his mind was swirling right now, and he adjusted his bowtie. He couldn't remember the exact day, but that wasn't important. Not right now. He shook himself, "Yeah, so, your.." and noticeably flinched and hesitated, "son.. seems to have come down with a fever and I managed to lessen it to a point, but he's still sick..." His brow furrowed with heavy concern.
"I'll come over immediately," Greg hopped in the van at that very moment, and hung up. Within fifteen minutes, he showed up at the Temple with chicken noodle soup, a thermometer and a bucket. The demon had let the outline slip away into oblivion, and waited. He contemplated hiding, but that would be cowardly, selfish and wrong. And not to mention it would confuse Greg. So he stayed by Steven's side, damn the consequences, and watched over him. The man knocked on the door, "Uh, hello? my hands are kinda full-"
Bill was shocked out of his thoughts then, looking towards the door. He then facepalmed, whispering, "Right..."
He got up, and headed for the door, opening it with magic. Now for the moment of truth. He was expecting a freakout. Any minute now. He'd been on the receiving end of them for almost the entire day and night. Why not this time? Greg stared for a moment, shocked. He dropped what he was carrying, and quickly went to scoop it up.
The demon sighed, and snapped his fingers. The soup was now replenished in a new bowl, and he was now carrying it, carefully. Couldn't scoop that up safely, he realized. Yep. That was a freakout alright. But he didn't know whether it was because he was a triangle with an eye and limbs or because he was Bill Cipher. Regardless, Greg's presence was partially welcomed, if only because Steven was sick, and his eye narrowed neutrally, "So, Greg, we finally meet..."
He spared a quick glance upstairs, holding back a sigh.
"Thanks..." he looked Bill up and down, biting his lip, "uh, I didn't expect you to be..." he then shooed that away and instead asked, "How's Steven?"
The triangle ignored the comment, letting out that sigh, and replied, "See for yourself, kid."
He then floated up to the loft again, still carrying the bowl. He would never reveal it again, at least not now, but he was envious. The boy had such a wonderful relationship with his dad, and would have had with his mom too. They were just so.. loving...
He felt something wet underneath his eye just then, and quickly wiped it away. He didn't want Greg to worry over him too. Steven was more important. The middle-aged man followed, and approached his son. He put a hand to the boy's forehead, and shook his head, "You're burning up, kiddo..." he looked to Bill and smiled. "Thanks for the call, by the way."
"Eh, it's.. no problem," he smiled back despite himself. He then snapped his fingers and a table appeared beside the bed. He set the bowl down onto it. He hoped they could take care of it right here. He wasn't willing to face Connie's mom either. Greg put the bucket by the kid's bed, and stuck the thermometer in his mouth. He went downstairs, grabbed a rag, and ran it under cool water, before coming back up to put it to Steven's forehead. Bill blinked, looking at the thermometer. He wondered how high it would go. Hopefully not too high. He then sighed.
The man glanced at Bill, before he turned on the television. He seemed rather uncomfortable with the silence, but hat no idea how to fill it himself.
"He's.. gonna be okay, right?" the demon broke the semi-silence, still staring at the small instrument.
"Just a fever," Greg smiled, nodding.
"Of course..." he frowned softly. He'd almost forgotten, after all their adventure, that the boy was also half-human. He could get sick. He could... the thought froze his veins. But he shook it off, and smiled and rolled his eye with a laugh, "Yeah, he'll be fine.. pfft, why am I so worried?"
"You should take a break. i'll watch him, okay?" Greg offered, still smiling. He missed Steven, of course, and missed being alone with him. The demon didn't like this suggestion, but didn't show it much and didn't speak against it. He shouldn't see the boy like this. It broke his heart already. And being near Greg and having to pretend he was happy was nearly torturous. So he nodded, "Fine."
And then, with one last look at his friend, he ventured down the stairs, and out the door, onto the balcony, where he sat on the railing. He stared out into the distance, wondering a lot of things. His brow furrowed, and he sighed. It had been a few minutes, and the triangle kept staring, when he noticed something green in the distance. It was coming closer too, at a fast pace. He blinked, a little confused.
Peridot was sent on a task not a while ago. The twins had realized that they had forgotten about Ocean Town and their plans for it, and didn't feel like going back to tell Bill and the gang. And so they sent her. She was doing well at running on her own feet, having declined the limb enhancers, but admitted to herself that it would have been faster with them.
"Huh..?" Bill raised an eyebrow, and eventually the small Gem reached the stairs, but faceplanted into the sand. She got up, grumbling and brushing herself off, and looked up at him.
"Where's Connie and Steven?" she asked, hurriedly.
"The kid's sick and Connie went home," the demon replied, and she groaned.
"Well, I'll just tell you then!" Peridot smirked a little. She had no idea what "sick" meant, but it wasn't important to her now. She could ask the twins what it was. She clenched her hands then, "Bring everyone you can to Ocean Town. They'd been suffering for a long time and we'd like to help. But we three can't do it on our own!"
The golden dream demon thought on this, and soon nodded, "As soon as Steven gets better..."
"Great! we'll be waiting there!" and then she took off, back towards the boat. Bill blinked, and sighed, looking down now.
The boy was still fast asleep, thermometer stuck in his partially open mouth. He had gone an unnatural pale, and had broken out into a cold sweat too. It almost seemed like he was dead if it wasn't for the ragged breathing. Greg pressed the cold, wet rag to his son's forehead again, sighing. He watched the boy carefully, glancing at the thermometer to check his temperature. Steven squirmed a little, mumbling something. He seemed to have been dreaming as well. His dad sighed, taking out the thermometer and setting it on the table. He trembled, before he gasped awake, eyes opening. The first thing he saw was darkness, and then it faded. He blinked weakly, blearily, as he could make out a familiar shape, "..D..Dad...?"
"Hey, Shtoo-ball," he smiled weakly at the kid.
For a while, he didn't smile back, but he soon did, much more weakly, "H...hey..."
"How ya feeling?" he touched the boy's hand.
"I feel awful.." he sniffled, and then coughed a little. His voice was hoarse. Unnatural for a kid like him. "But nice, for some reason..."
"It'll be alright, kiddo."
"Y..yeah.." he tried to sit up, and look around, but he found he was a little too weak to do that now.
"Is this alright?" he nodded towards the TV, which was playing an episode of Crying Breakfast Friends.
The boy smiled, "Yeah.. it's fine.. thank you." He then blinked, "Where's Bill?"
"He's taking a rest," Greg sighed. "Chicken noodle soup?" he asked, picking up the bowl and offering it. The boy nodded, smiling a little. But it was drenched in weak worry. He was worried about Malachite. He was worried about Pearl. Most importantly, he was worried about Bill. He wondered if he'd be able to fix things. He hoped he could.
Greg took a spoonful, and brought it near the kid's mouth. Steven willingly opened his mouth, ready to accept it. Greg smiled, "Here comes the airplane..." and then he tipped it into the Gem boy's mouth.
Steven gulped it down, and giggled and the "airplane" joke. He'd never get tired of that, no matter how old he got. It ended in a fit of coughing, though, but he was starting to feel warm inside nonetheless. And so it continued. Greg spoonfeeding his son the soup, just glad to be there for once. And the boy was glad he was there. It had been so long since he'd seen his dad anyway. He was still worried, but he pushed it all aside for this. He even felt just a little bit better. The day was idyllic, and restful for the boy, and hopefully for Bill too.
It wasn't, really. Bill figured he'd gotten enough "rest", and came back inside. He wiped away the tears from his eye, and sighed. Steven heard this and wanted to get up and help, squirming. Greg wouldn't let him, placing a gentle hand on his chest, "You're still too sick, Steven. Go to sleep, he'll still be here when you wake up..."
Despite himself, he yawned, eyelids drooping, "But I'm not tired..."
The demon chuckled at this, "I'll be fine, kid.."
He didn't know whether this was a lie though, as he sat on the couch staring at the wall, now with a more or less blank expression.
"You're sick, you're definitely tired. Now, please, get some sleep, kiddo," the dad ruffled through Steven's hair, smiling. The boy sighed, but smiled a little. And then yawned again. He drifted off without another word. And then there was silence. Time began to pass quickly, and Greg got out a book and started reading. The demon still sat on the couch, silently. Moping. He was wondering why his past had to turn out the way it did. Why his brother had to be sent away from him again. But then.. it always came down to one answer in his mind. Bad luck. Nolis. He sighed.
Greg glanced down at Bill, closed the book, and made his way down, "Hey.. you alright?"
Bill snapped out of his depression rather rapidly, and glanced at the man. He fixed the shocked expression into a neutral one, "I'm fine. Don't worry."
He didn't want this. This was exactly what he didn't want to happen. Why was the universe always against him?
"Alright," he frowned softly, "tell me if you need anything." He headed back up, and sat down, glancing at the book.
"Yeah, just focus on the kid," he inwardly sighed of relief. He got up and headed to the kitchen, fixing to make himself some hot chocolate.
Greg ran his fingers through Steven's hair, sighing. He whispered, as not to wake the boy up, "Whatcha making?"
"Hot chocolate," he replied a bit curtly. His patience was running thin. He wasn't sure how much of this he could take, but hopefully this mug would help. He had already begun preparing it.
"Ooh, could you make some for me too?" Greg's eyes had brightened giddily.
Bill paused for a few seconds, before he nodded, "Eh, of course."
He brought down another mug and began hand-brewing it, same with the other. Greg fell silent, picking up the book and going back to reading. And in this silence, the sounds of stirring and the television took dominance. The demon finished, and then served up the mugs, floating upstairs to deliver. Greg took his and sipped, "Thanks, Bill."
"You're welcome, kid," the demon then retreated to the bedside, and sat down, sipping at his too. It barely worked. He was beginning to have his doubts that it ever would. How could he be happy when poor Steven was sick and when the reminder of what he could and should have had was sitting right across from him?
Greg glanced at him, "You sure you're okay, buddy?"
Bill nodded, staring at the sleeping kid now. Whenever he was close to crying, he'd bury himself in his beverage. He wasn't going to admit anything, wasn't going to show anything. It was for the best.
"Oh... you're worried about Steven, right? don't worry, he'll be fine," he sighed, and then put on another smile. "He's already getting better!"
"That's great!" the triangle suddenly grinned. And it faded just as quickly as it came. He was worried about other things too. Thinking about other things. He almost wished he had never washed up here. At least then he wouldn't have had to face this and the Axolotl would have had to find something else. Greg hardly paid attention though, now, focusing mainly on his book, and on his boy too. Bill sighed and resumed drinking the hot chocolate. It didn't really taste sweet. Which was weird. He added marshmallows. Maybe it was his tears. He wasn't sure.
Greg soon fell asleep, in the peaceful bliss of Steven's sickness and the warmth of the hot chocolate. The demon glanced at the two, and then at Greg's unfinished hot chocolate. He frowned, and sighed again. He got up. Maybe an actual walk would do him some good. But the man was asleep, and so no one would be watching Steven. The demon groaned, and so he sat down again, taking another sip. He wondered when he'd be free of this torment...
A/N: Aaand here we go. Poor, poor Bill is going through a hell of a lot, huh?
Anyway, I was Bill, Pearl, Peridot and Steven (while Greg was there), and Ace was Greg and the Void and Steven. :3
Hope ya enjoyed!
P.S.: We only have about two or so chapters I'm estimating before this story has to go on a hiatus again. We need to continue roleplaying it and we hadn't gotten to do that in several months. So, that's that...