Hello folks! As I promised, I am back with chapter eleven! I'm so happy that people are still reading this fic and enjoying it! Hopefully that enjoyment will only grow with this next chapter.

Now, onto the reviews…

MarionetteJ2X: I'm glad that you're happy to see that I'm back! I'm glad to see some familiar usernames who are still reading this after all these years! It warms my heart! I also love slow burn fics. I always worry that I'm moving things along too quickly in this story, so it's nice to hear that someone sees ASAD as a slow-burn. I personally am not a huge fan of two characters falling in love in the first chapter (unless it's a one-shot), so I'm doing my best to steadily grow the relationship between Mabel and Bill so it can feel more realistic. I hope you stay safe and well, too!

ArtsyReader: I'm glad that you enjoyed the update and I'm happy you enjoy my story so much! Also, this may sound strange, but I'm kind of honored that you went back and reread the whole thing. You could have just skimmed the story to try to remember what was going on, but you read it all! I was surprised and happy to hear that!

FrozenFruit291212: I'm so happy that you're enjoying the story! Thanks for finding it so creative!

childofgod80809: I was the same way. MaBill had me hooked so quickly. It's actually one of the reasons I got so into the fandom! I'm glad that you're excited for the rest of my story!

Thanks all you amazing people for reviewing! Reading your reviews always makes my day brighter!

Now, sit back, relax, and enjoy chapter eleven of A Star Among Darkness!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls in the slightest. This fantastic show is owned by Alex Hirsch and Disney.

Mabel had already put together that Bill lost his powers in her head, but to hear it out loud…it made it all the more real. It was real. Bill without powers was…unthinkable. He always had them, and just like that, he doesn't? Her mind didn't want to comprehend this fact. It was so impossible that it kept insisting that all this was false.

But it wasn't. This was real. Bill didn't have any of his powers and they no longer had a way to leave this Realm.

Mabel was snapped out of her thoughts when she felt Bill's hands release her arms. She looked up and was surprised to find a bit of anger slipping away from the demon's eye. It was still there, but something else replaced just the tiniest speck of it: fear. Awful, world shattering, fear.

As he backed away from her, Mabel saw Bill's face go pale. He looked down at his hands, which were still shaking, and just stared at them. It was as if he was wishing his power back. If he stared hard enough, then maybe everything would go back to normal.

But it didn't.

Lowering his head even more, the demon closed his hands into fists, his whole body shaking now rather than just his hands. Then, without another word, he got down on his knees, released a scream of rage, and punched the floor.

"Bill!" Mabel ran over to him, sliding to the ground so that they were nearly on the same level. She grabbed his hand, which had gone limp. "Stop it! This isn't solving anything!"

Sucking in a deep breath, Bill nodded. "You're right." Before she could check for any wounds, Bill took his hand from Mabel's grasp. He stood up, and as Mabel did the same, she looked up to find a calmer, much more Bill like expression on his face. His skin was beginning to get back some color, his posture relaxed, and the shaking had stopped. However, Mabel could identify a forced smile from a mile away. "It seems Shooting Star," Bill continued, trying to add a bit more of his sadistic joy back into his voice, "that we have encountered a problem."

"Bill, this isn't just a problem. It's a we-might-freaking-die-here problem. The worst kind there is. Bill, we have absolutely no way to get back."

"You think I don't know that?! You're not the only one who's worried about never being able to leave this freaking Realm!"

"I know! That's why I'm saying we need to think of something!"

"Obviously!"

The two stared at each other for a moment, neither one breaking eye contact. Mabel kept her eyes trained on Bill's singular one, trying to find some familiarity in all the wrongness. It didn't last long. Much too soon, a loud ringing broke through the silence, causing Mabel to yelp.

Frowning, Bill took off his hat and reached inside it. "Well, at least things already infused with my power haven't stopped working too," he mumbled, digging around inside the headwear. "That's something at least. And this," he pulled his hand back out, revealing the alarm clock, "is not good."

"No, no it's not!" Mabel responded frantically. One minute. Only one minute! Probably less than that now! Less than one minute to come up with a plan and save them from being endlessly teleported forever. You know, the usual. No big deal! The teen let out a nervous laugh. "Bill, we could really use a plan right now."

"I know, I know. I'm trying to think of one." Mabel saw the demon go up on his toes, as if he were preparing to jump, but he stopped himself and grumbled. He put his heels back on the ground and started pacing back and forth. "There's nothing here we can use. Or, at least, nothing here that we'd be able to find in time."

"Your hat still works. Can you get anything from in there?"

"No."

"You didn't even look!"

"Looking for something I know is not there is a waste of time. Why would I keep something that allows me to teleport when I'm usually able to do it myself?" Mabel had to concede to that line of logic. After pacing for another few seconds, the Dream Demon stopped, reaching a hand up and pulling at his hair. "This is all useless," he hissed out. "We have nothing. Absolutely nothing. To think, Bill Cipher bested by a freaking shadow of all things. This is humiliating."

"Bill, you can't just give up!"

He whirled around to glare at her, lowering his hand back down to his side. "I'm not giving up. That's the last thing I would ever do. I'm just stating the facts of the situation so far."

"We have to be spit-balling ideas, not just stating the facts."

"Well, as of right now, unless you have some sort of teleportation device in your back pocket, we're running out of options!"

Mabel paused at that, her eyes widening. She face-palmed. I'm an idiot. "Uh, what if I told you that I do?"

He snorted. "Very funny Shooting Star. Now who's the one wasting ti-"

"No. I'm serious." Reaching into the side pocket of her skirt, Mabel grabbed the cubed that Tika gave her and held it out for Bill to see. "Tika gave it to me. She said it would allow me to teleport anywhere in the universe."

Bill's eye widened before it shrunk again to a glare, his mouth twisting. "Shooting Star, if you've had this with you the whole time, why are you only telling me now?!"

The girl crossed her arms. "I'm sorry, but I forgot about it."

"How do you forget about the thing that can literally save us from our current situation?!"

"We just had an encounter with the Shadows and you lost your powers. Forgive me if this wasn't exactly the first thing on my mind!"

"You-" He cut off the rest of what he was about to say with a growl, shaking his head. "We don't have time to argue. You have to get us out of here now. We don't have much time left."

Mabel nodded, determination clear on her face, and she ran over to where Bill was standing. Grabbing his arm, the teen clenched her eyes shut and clicked two of the sides in, yelling, "Bill Cipher's Mindscape!"

The teleportation was much rockier than Bill's was, the force of it throwing them all around. The pair whacked into each other more times than Mabel could count. But it was fast, and next thing she knew, she was lying on solid ground once more.

"Ooh," she groaned, woozily standing up. "What's with all of you and terrible teleportation abilities? Why can't you all have smoother ones?"

Bill, also standing up from the ground, rolled his eye. "I'm sorry that instantly getting from one place to another isn't good enough for you, your highness." Straightening his top hat, the demon looked around. "Well, at least that thing actually worked. We're back in my Mindscape."

Mabel looked at the area around them. They were currently in one of the many gray and black hallways in Bill's 'home'. As for which one, she couldn't tell, but it was a sight for sore eyes. She let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness. That was way too close for my liking. So," the girl's gaze hardened, eyes moving back to Bill's, "what do we do now?"

"Now we figure out where the Shadow Shard is and take it back."

"But how? You lost your powers. You can't just snap all our problems away anymore."

"You know, I'm really trying to ignore that fact right now, so if you could please stop mentioning it, that would be great." A sickly sweet smile followed the end of the sentence.

Mabel sighed. "All I'm doing is trying to make a point. We have to use different measures than usual in order to find the Shard. The question is how we're going to do that."

Bill went silent for a moment, his eye looking up at the ceiling as he thought. Then he snapped his fingers, gaze returning to Mabel. "I think I might have something that could help. As long as we can find it quickly, all should be well."

The teen nodded. "Yeah. We need to get the Shard back as soon as possible."

Bill frowned slightly. "That, and you currently have a time limit for how long you can stay here."

"Wha- Oh man, you're right." Mabel plopped her face in her hands and let out a loud groan. "Can't the universe just have one thing go right for us today?"

A snort. "The universe isn't kind. Just be happy that you still have time here before you go home. If you woke up now, well, I wouldn't be able to bring you back. So, Shooting Star, that would basically mean that you're screwed."

Another muffled groan came from behind Mabel's hands before she looked back up. "I've been screwed since the beginning of all this."

Bill shrugged. "Can't argue with that."

"Come on," Mabel sighed, turning in a random direction. "Let's go find what you need." It turns out she did turn the right way because Bill followed after her, quickly walking in front of her to lead the way.

Mabel choked on air when she saw Bill's back and remembered.

"Bill, first we need to do something about that."

The demon turned his head back to her, face scrunched in confusion. "About what?" Mabel pointed at the wound (more like a giant, circular scorch mark) and he let out an exasperated sigh. "It's fine, Shooting Star. In fact, it feels great! I've never felt a sensation like this before!"

"It doesn't look great." All the skin being shown via the hole in his clothes was black. Some areas seemed to have cut deeper than others, leaving gashes in his back and making his skin uneven. She swore she saw some skin peeling off of him. It looked absolutely excruciating.

"It's fine," he sighed again. He returned his attention to the hallway before them. "I can heal it up in a-" A heavy intake of breath was heard. "I'll be fine."

Mabel narrowed her eyes and increased her speed, ending up directly behind Bill. Gently, she reached forward and touched the wound. She felt Bill flinch in response. "Nope," she deadpanned, grabbing his hand and forcing him to turn around. Ignoring his protests, she began to march them both…well, somewhere. She was attempting to find her room, but since she didn't know where they were in the Mindscape, it made that goal rather difficult. "We're fixing you up."

Bill attempted to rip his hand away from her grasp, but Mabel's hold didn't falter in the slightest. "Shooting Star-"

"Don't you dare say you are fine Bill. You are clearly not fine."

"We're wasting time."

"I'd rather waste it than have my partner run into danger hurt."

"Sho-"

"Bill, you no longer have your powers! You're stuck with only a limited number of options now. Things are now impossible for you to do. Whether you like it or not, you're a lot weaker than you were before." Mabel turned her head and sent the Dream Demon a glare. "I'm not going to have you jump into action hurt while being powerless. That's basically a death sentence for both of us. I'm not going to let you get hurt even more if I can do something about it."

Surprised, Bill stopped struggling and simply stared at the girl in front of him, not quite sure what to say in response to that. He felt little pinpricks of warmth in his chest, the sensation slowly growing to encompass his whole body. Horrified at what could possibly be happening (Is this another thing caused by the drug, or a side effect of losing my powers? Either way, it's not good!), the demon tried his best to get rid of the strange sensation mentally, to force his body back to normal. It didn't want to listen and ignored his attempts, making the rest of the walk rather uncomfortable for Bill.

It turned out Mabel did head in the right direction and she eventually found the door to her room. Dragging a now still Bill Cipher into her room, she made him sit down on her bed while she went to get some first aid supplies from the bathroom. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was better than nothing. When she came back, holding a dry wash cloth, a wet wash cloth, and her homemade first aid kit (decorated to the max, of course), she saw Bill seemingly lost in thought, his eye trained on the floor and his hands clenched into fists. She frowned, hoping he would be all right.

Climbing onto the bed, Mabel sat behind the Dream Demon, getting herself and her supplies situated. "Okay, I'm going to need you to take off your jacket and shirt."

His head whipped around to face her, staring at her as if she were a madwoman. "What?! Why?!"

Mabel sighed. "I need to make sure I clean your entire wound, and I don't want your shirt to make me miss anything." It looked like he was going to protest again when she added, "If you take off your shirt, this whole thing will go a lot quicker."

That got him throwing his tattered shirt and jacket off without any more complaints.

She moved her body slightly so that she could look at his face, making sure that he was ready. He looked annoyed, but compliant. She was about to move back when her eyes caught sight of his bare torso and, well.

Mabel gave a slight hum of approval. "Not bad," she said under her breath.

Bill's head tilted slightly towards her. "What?"

"Nothing!" Cheeks heating up, the girl ducked back behind the demon's back and took a couple calming breaths. Once she was sure the redness had gone down, she returned her attention to Bill's back and her determination to help returned. She held the wet towel inches from his back. "This might hurt a little," she warned.

"I said I'll be fine Shooting Star. There's really no reason-" His next word was cut off by a loud hiss of pain. He arched his back away from the touch of the towel. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm trying to clean and cool down the burn. I told you it might hurt."

Bill gave out a disbelieving laugh. "That can't be what you're doing."

Mabel put her fists on her hips and scowled. "Why not?"

"Because that actually hurt."

"I told you it might."

"But I don't get hurt from wounds like these."

The teen snorted. "Maybe with your powers and maybe while you're in your actual form you don't, but right now, you don't have either of those. You may as well just be a human at this point, and wounds like these hurt us."

Bill went completely still at her words, his entire body tensing up. "…Bill?" Mabel questioned hesitantly after a long bout of silence.

The next words sounded as though he was forcing them out of his mouth. "We need to get my powers back. There's no way I can stay in this skin bag for the rest of my life. I won't let myself."

Mabel sighed, pitying the demon. "Well, we can't do that right this minute, so let's just focus on what we can do, starting with cleaning your wound." He didn't respond, and Mabel took that as an okay to continue. She put the wet towel back to his skin, and although he lasted longer than last time, he eventually moved away from her touch. "Bill," Mabel admonished.

"There has to be an easier way to do this!"

"There isn't. This is the quickest and most effective thing I can do right now."

"Can't we just let it be?"

"Bill." Her sharp tone made him quiet down, but he was still grumbling under his breath. Mabel wouldn't have been surprised if a few choice words were being thrown her way. She sighed and tried again. Thankfully, this time, he didn't move.

His body kept getting tenser and tenser as she began her cleaning process, and Mabel was about half way through cleaning the wound when she moved her head slightly to see how Bill was doing. His teeth were clenched so hard she thought they would shatter, and he was gripping his legs with enough force to leave bruises. Quietly, hoping to be of a little more help, she reached forward and grabbed his hand. He immediately ripped it from her grasp. "What are you doing?" he asked, irritation and confusion evident on his face.

She rolled her eyes and tried to grab for his hand again, which he moved out of her reach. "I'm trying…" she grunted, attempting to stretch herself enough so that she could reach her goal, "…to help."

"How would that help? My hand has nothing to do with my back."

"You're right." She let out a small cheer when she finally grabbed his wrist. She pulled it back towards her, making sure to keep her grip much tighter than before. "But it can still help." Mabel rearranged their hands so that they were holding on to each other's, her fingers intertwined with his.

"What are-"

"When I was a kid, whenever I had to go to the doctors because of an injury, my mom would always let me hold her hand so that I had something to squeeze. It always helped take the intensity of the pain away while the doctor was trying to clean it."

"I'm not a child, Shooting Star."

"You're right. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't have anything to help you through the pain." She went behind his back again and prepared to start cleaning. "You can squeeze my hand as hard as you'd like." Bill didn't response, his gaze at the wall in front of him. Almost as soon as she started cleaning again, his grip in her hand tightened. She couldn't help but peek over, seeing that his other hand was no longer gripping his leg as hard. Smiling, she went back to work.

It took Mabel about twenty minutes to get Bill's wound cleaned and patched up. She nearly had to fight him in order to get some bandages on it, but he eventually gave in and let her cover the wound in gauze. After deeming him alright, he picked up his jacket and shirt and placed them back on.

"You'll have to be careful," Mabel cautioned. "It's probably going to be sore for a while." Bill absentmindedly nodded as he straightened out his clothing. With a final adjustment to his top hat, he headed towards the door.

"Come on, Shooting Star. We've already wasted enough time." The girl sighed and then paused.

"Hey Bill, aren't you going to change?"

With a sigh of his own, the demon stopped his pace and turned back to Mabel. "What?"

"There is currently a giant hole in the back of your clothes. You probably want to change."

"This is the only outfit I have."

Mabel's jaw dropped and she took a step back, putting a hand to her heart. "How is that the only thing you have to wear?! How does someone only have one set of clothing?!"

Bill glared. "Shooting Star. I. Am. A. Triangle. A. Triangle." He drew a triangle shape in the air with both pointer fingers. "I have never needed clothes before this." A pause. "Well, besides my hat, but that's more for aesthetics sake."

"But what if there is some extreme circumstance where you end up needing more clothes. Like right now!"

"Shooting Star, I wouldn't exactly call this an extreme circumstance."

"It's an extreme fashion circumstance."

Bill pinched the bridge of his nose. "Shooting Star, I'm not changing."

"But-"

"We have an actual extreme circumstance that we need to deal with right now. We can worry about my fashion choices later."

Mabel heaved a sigh of defeat. "Fine, but know that I will get you into another outfit eventually."

"Whatever you say, Shooting Star." Turning back around, he continued his walk and Mabel followed right after him.

The pair eventually stopped at a door with four half circles on it. The rounded parts were facing inwards near each other and the edges were touching, making a square like shape in the center.

"There will hopefully be something in here that we can use," Bill murmured, opening the door. Mabel felt her jaw drop at what she saw.

There were piles upon piles upon piles of items thrown haphazardly on top of each other. Each of the many stacks reached all the way to the top of the ceiling (which was very high) and the rows went all the way to the back (which was very far). The items in the stacks ranged from an ordinary stone to a glowing animal bone that would appear and disappear at random intervals. There was a cacophony of sights and sounds happening all around her and, although the grays and whites took away what Mabel assumed would be thousands of bursts of colors, it was glorious.

"So cool," she whispered, awe evident in her voice. She took a step further in, trying her best to see everything the room had to offer. "What is this place?"

Bill shrugged. "It's a bit of a storage room. I've been alive for a long time. I've been places. Seen things. If those things intrigue me enough, I take them and put them in here." Looking around himself, the demon's nose scrunched up. "To be honest, I don't know why half of these things are in here. I must have found that interesting at some point." Shrugging, Bill clapped his gloved hands together and rolled up his sleeves. "Alright then. Time to get searching."

"Wait, you don't know where it is?"

"I haven't been in here in years. I have no idea where that thing ended up."

Mabel groaned. "This is going to take awhile."

"Probably. But it's the only plan we got."

Staring at the humongous piles, Mabel let herself have one more groan before cracking her knuckles. "So, what exactly are we looking for?"

The Dream Demon started searching as he responded. "It's a large orb of moving water, essentially. It should turn a bluish color once you touch it."

"Okay. Glass orb. Got it."

"Nope."

"Hm?"

"It's just a sphere of water. No glass."

"Then how does it keep its shape?"

Bill paused his actions and gave her a deadpan look. "Really? That's the thing you question? Not the cube that can literally teleport you anywhere? Or being able to breathe underwater?"

"...Fair point." Mabel began searching herself, but stopped as a thought occurred to her. "Oh, right. Before I forget again, we only have two more uses of the cube."

"What?"

"It only works three times. After that, it's just a regular cube."

Mabel only heard the sigh, but she had a pretty good idea of the look on Bill's face. "Okay, that makes things a bit trickier."

"Hey, at least we have a way to teleport in the first place."

Bill grunted as a response, ending the conversation. Returning her gaze to the pile of items towering above her, Mabel steeled herself. She was about to experience the hardest scavenger hunt of her life.

"I got it!" Mabel cheered, holding the orb of water up in the air victoriously. Her balance on the objects below her wavering, she nearly fell, but was able to catch herself in time. She found something more stable to stand on before lifting the orb up again.

Bill poked his out from behind a different pile farther away. "Finally! It's about time!" he yelled.

Mabel scowled, yelling back, "You make it sound as though you weren't failing to find it yourself!"

The demon had a similar expression to Mabel's on his face. "Just get down here!"

Sitting down, Mabel attempted to slide down the pile, something she had been trying the whole three hours with varying results. Thankfully, she was able to reach the bottom without too much hassle this time.

The pair met in the middle and Mabel handed the sphere over to Bill. "So, what does it do?"

Bill held the orb delicately. "This can show us any creature, object, or place in the universe and what is currently happening to it."

A grin grew on the brunette's face. "Meaning we'll be able to see where the Shard is!"

"Exactly!"

Mabel interrupted before the Dream Demon could continue. "But wait, if you've had this the whole time, why haven't you been using it to find all the Shards?"

"If you would have let me finish," on the last word, a small glare was sent her way, "I would have explained the rest of the orb's powers to you. Yes, it can show any creature, item, or place in the universe, but you have to have seen the thing yourself first. It won't let you see something that you've personally never looked at. Seeing it because of a picture or something else doesn't count, either."

"I see. And since the Shards are now technically different objects…"

Bill continued where she trailed off, nodding. "I can't use this to find any of them."

"Even if they were all the same object in the past?"

"Not even then. It's not considered the same object anymore. Like…if you cut someone's hand off of their body. It's still their hand, but it's something they can no longer use. It can now be considered just a random hand that has nothing to do with the creature it was previously attached to."

Mable grimaced. "You could have used a less gruesome example."

"But then I wouldn't have been able to see that wonderful expression on your face." The demon grinned. "Disgust truly does suit you, Shooting Star."

Said disgusted look changed into a glare. "I'm beautiful, thank you very much. And shouldn't we be getting back to the orb? You know, not a lot of time and all that."

"Yes, yes, we should." Bill turned back to the sphere, a smile sadistic smile still on his face. "Now, if I'm remembering correctly..." He forced his hands inside the orb so that the water was surrounding them. Looking intensely at it, he said, "Show me the location of the Shadow Shard Lily stole from us."

The swirling blue liquid slowed to a stop, then rapidly started to spin again, as if it was a mini whirlpool. It was eventually moving so fast that Mabel couldn't tell that it was moving at all. Then, the water began to clear and a scene began to play out before them.

Lily and another Shadow (seemingly a young man) were walking through a dense forest. The darkness made the two's forms almost invisible. The only thing that made them visible were their eyes and the glowing blue spot on Lily's arm.

"Is that the Underworld?" Mabel asked. If so, it looked a lot nicer than she thought.

"No. They're somewhere else. I can't tell where though."

"You can't?"

Bill scowled. "All I have to work with is trees right now, Shooting Star. Do you know how many Realms have trees?"

"No. Not really. I've only been to a few Realms so far."

"Well, there are a lot of them."

"Ah."

After walking for a while, the two finally exited the forest. They came to an open area with large, glowing red lights lining the smooth stone path up to an extravagant mansion. The walls were made of glossy red stones and covered the entirety of the six story house. The only places the stone could not be found were on the trimming, which was a pristine white, the roof, also a pristine white, and the windows, all of which were stain glass ones. Bushes with small flowers growing on them surrounded the house. Although their sizes were the same, every bush had a different, beautiful type of flower. There was also a clean white patio at the front, where a finely crafted door was waiting to be opened.

All of this was visible only via the lights on the path and the lights from the house. The entire sky was black, so there was neither a moon nor stars to help brighten the night.

"Now I know where they are," Bill declared.

"Where?"

"Well, its official name is Ochirenes, but most people just call it the Darkened Realm. It's a place where only night exists, but there isn't a moon or stars. They use those giant red lights as…well lights, and as a heat source."

"Ochirenes? That name seems awfully different than the names of the other Realms."

"Most creatures just name the Realm after the main aspect it has because it makes it easier for different creatures to know what they're talking about. Others, however, like to be a bit more eccentric with their names."

"Ah."

"People rarely use the actual name though, so it's sort of useless."

"Then why haven't they renamed-"

"Shh! Something's actually happening."

The pair of Shadows went up to the door and knocked, Lily's hand barely leaving the door before it opened. A small man (who was supposedly a butler, if the suit was anything to go by) appeared in the opening. The top half of him looked human enough, besides the red eyes, but the bottom half was a different story. From the waist down he had the body of what looked like a large black spider. There were many more legs than one would find on a spider, but the shape and structure of the body were the same.

"Ah," his voice, though calm and confident, sounded small too. "Miss Lily and her associate, I assume."

"Yes. We're here to deliver the package."

The butler nodded and opened the door wider, his many legs tapping on the tiled floor as he did so. "Yes. Of course. Right this way." Lily and the other Shadow stepped into what could only be called an entertainment area. The room was a large square with gleaming tiled flooring. On the upper half of the room, where they were currently standing, there was a large wood door across from them leading to the rest of the house. Two long tables on either side of the room were covered with food. Sofas and smaller tables were scattered around the rest of the area, yet there was still plenty of room to walk. A shining wood railing created a barrier so that guests wouldn't fall to the area below. On all four sides, a couple of steps lead down to a nearly completely bare and tiled area. There was a small stage in one of the corners where instruments were already set up, so it seemed to be a dance floor of some kind. Finally, above them was a stone ceiling carved with intricate designs. Three large chandeliers, their lights glowing red, were hung across the room, bathing the area in a warm light.

It was beautiful, to say the least.

Lily turned to the butler. "Is something going on here tonight?"

"Indeed. The Master throws monthly parties and tonight happens to be one of them."

"Hm." Lily turned back around. "Alright then. Let's go find your master."

"Of course. He's currently in his study. I'll show you the way." The butler led the two across the room and through the large doorway. The hallway they entered into was dimly lit, but their path was still visible. They ended up walking through another hallway and going up two flights of stairs, where they finally made it to the aforementioned study.

The butler knocked on the door. "Master, your guests have arrived."

There was a muffled response of, "Come in," and the small man opened the door for the Shadows. Like every place else in the mansion, the room was beautiful. Plush red carpets were laid on the floor, bookshelves lined the walls, an extravagant chandelier hung from the ceiling, and an intricately crafted wooden desk was at the center of it all. Behind said desk sat an old man with graying hair, a dark blue (almost black) suit, and black dragon-like wings protruding from his back. He smiled when he saw his visitors, sharp teeth gleaming in the light.

"Ah, Miss Lily. Always a pleasure to see you." He stood up and held his hand out. Lily took it and gently shook it. He then turned to the other Shadow. "I don't believe we've met. What's your name?"

"Nathan, sir."

The old man held out his hand again, which Nathan shook. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Nathan." Sitting back down, the man dismissed his butler and focused all his attention on Lily. His face morphed into a more serious expression. "I'm guessing you brought it?" He motioned towards a briefcase that Lily was holding in a hand.

"Would I be here if I didn't?" Not waiting for an answer, Lily placed the case onto his desk and opened it to reveal the Shadow Shard to him.

"Wait, she brought it there? Why would she bring it there?"

"Be quiet, Shooting Star! I'm trying to listen."

The old man grinned as he gazed at the object. "This is stunning! Do you mind if I…?" He started moving his hand toward the Shard, but hadn't yet tried to grab it.

"Go ahead," Lily answered.

The man gingerly lifted the Shard up, looking at it in awe. "I've never seen anything like this before. It's magnificent. It's a shame that I only have one night with it. I would have loved to study it longer."

"On the subject of that, is everything prepared?"

With a nod, the master of the house placed the Shard back in the briefcase and closed the lid. "Yes. My contacts will be here tomorrow."

"And they will be able to do as I requested?"

Another nod. "Indeed. I have seen them hide away the most well known objects. Even if an entire Realm knows about it and is searching for it, the object won't be found. I can promise you that this Shard will never see the light of day again."

Lily let out a sigh. "Good. Then we're all set. You will get your payment tomorrow afternoon." She turned around and began walking back towards the door, Nathan following suit.

"Wait! Would you like to stay for the party?" Lily paused, not saying a word. The old man continued. "I feel as though I'm getting much more out of this trade than you are. I mean, a hefty sum and a chance to look at this beautiful artifact? I couldn't have asked for more! Just getting people to hide it for you doesn't seem like a fair trade on my end. So please, stay for the party. It's the least I can do."

Lily was quiet for a moment before facing the man again. "I haven't been to a party in a while, so sure. Why not."

He grinned. "Excellent! In honor of a successful trade, I say we have a drink. I'll just ring for Gerald and-"

"No need to bother him," Lily interrupted, a small smirk on her face. "I can get the drinks for us." Holding out the arm with the glowing blue light on it, the Shadow snapped her fingers and three glasses and a wine bottle appeared on the desk with a flash.

"She can use my powers too?!"

"Bill! Shh!"

"Oh, when I get my hands on her-"

"Shh!"

After filling the glasses, the master held up his cup. "To a successful trade," he declared. Both Shadows hummed in response and lifted their own glasses. Soon, all three were sitting down and talking about non-important matters, sipping on their wine throughout.

When Bill determined that nothing else of use was going to be said, he removed his hands from the orb and the picture returned to its water state.

The Dream Demon was fuming. "First, she takes my powers, and now she has the audacity to use them for herself?!"

"Calm down. We need to figure out our next step, not go on an angry rant."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Bill sighed deeply. "Okay, we have an even smaller amount of time now, but it should be pretty simple from here. When the Shard is left unguarded, one of us can use your teleportation-cube-thing to teleport into to the room, take the Shard, and then teleport back out. Boom. Problem solved."

Mabel frowned. "That won't work."

"And why is that, Shooting Star? It seems to be a pretty doable plan to me."

"It is doable, but it's not the move we want to make. We can use the cube to help us get this Shard, but what about the others? We'll be out of teleports if we go with that plan. We won't have any way to find the Shards or get them and we'll end up not being able to do anything at all."

The demon tilted his head slightly. "You do make a good point."

"I think the best course of action is to get the Shard and your powers back in one go. Killing two birds with one stone, ya know? I think the glowing light on her arm has something to do with it, because I know that she hasn't always had that."

"It's hard to see, but she attached a device onto her arm. She used it to take my powers, so I'm guessing she can use it to utilize them as well."

"Okay, so, what do we do? Run up to her, grab her arm, and rip it off?"

"…That's not a bad idea."

"Wait, are you serious?"

"We don't really have anything that will let us take it from her unnoticed, so we may as well take her by surprise instead. Then she hopefully won't be able to use my powers and I can find a way to give them back to myself."

Mabel thought everything over. "So, we teleport over there, take the Shard, take the device, and teleport back out."

"That's the gist of it, yeah."

"Okay, so we probably need a way to sneak in."

Bill's nose scrunched up. "What? What's wrong with just teleporting right in, doing what we need to, and getting out?"

Holding up her hand, Mabel began to count off the reasons why just teleporting in was a bad idea. "One, we don't know if there will be any alarms. Two, as of right now, we don't know if the case will stay on that old dude's desk or be hidden away. I'm guessing it's the later, so we may need time to look for it. Three, if Lily sees us, she'll recognize us on sight and try to kill us. Again. If we somehow make it out of that attack alive, she'll most likely move the Shard again and this time, we won't have any way to get to it. We'll need the last teleport to get back here, meaning we won't have any left to go to another realm. Whether you like it or not, sneaking in is the best option."

Bill huffed. "Okay, fine. And how do you suppose we do that?

Mabel smiled wide. She had been waiting for him to ask that. "Well, they did mention that there was a party tonight…"

The demon straightened and vehemently shook his head. "Nope. Uh-uh. No way. Absolutely not."

"But I thought you liked parties?"

"Yeah, the fun, chaotic ones. Not the stereotypical rich person ones. I thought you wouldn't be a fan of those parties yourself."

Mabel shrugged. "I do think chaotic parties are a lot better, but, if Pacifica's parent's parties taught me anything, it's that there's lots of really good free food at these upscale ones. Plus, I get to dress up, and that's always fun."

"Shooting Star, no way."

"Bill, it's the perfect way to sneak in. As long as we can disguise ourselves somewhat, we can get in without any problems. Trying to do this any way else would be a lot more suspicious and difficult."

It was silent, the two just staring at each other, both hoping the other person (or demon) would take their side. The Dream Demon eventually cracked. "Ugh, fine whatever. We'll do it your way."

"Woo hoo!" Mabel pumped a fist victoriously up in the air. "Party time!"

Bill sighed. "I think I might have something that will help disguise us. We just need to find it." He frowned, eyes wandering from one pile to the next.

"Actually, you need to find it."

Bill glared in Mabel's direction. "And why is that?"

"I need to work on a dress."

"Don't you already have some in your room?"

Mabel blushed slightly. "Well yes, but- Hey, how would you know that?!"

He rolled his eye. "You're a teenage girl. It wasn't that hard of a guess."

She sighed. "Yes, I do already have some dresses, but…"

"But…?"

"I may or may not have found a dress in one of the piles in here and was hoping I could redesign it a bit?" Her voice got higher as she went through her sentence, the last word barely a squeak. Bill just stared at her.

"Why-?"

The blush darkened. "I just want to, okay? So, yes or no?"

Bill continued his staring before shrugging and turning back to one of the piles. "Sure, I don't have any cursed clothing in here, I think, so you should be fine. Although, that would be rather funny…" Mabel ignored the last part.

"Yes!" Bill stiffened as a pair of arms wrapped around him, squeezing him tightly against another body. His face slowly began to grow hot. "Thank you thank you thank you!" Mabel let out a small gasp and stepped back. Bill felt his heart drop a bit, knowing the next words coming.

"I didn't hurt your back, did I? If I did, I am so sorry."

…Those weren't the words he was expecting.

It took a moment to answer, words refusing to form in his mouth. "Yes, I…I'm fine."

There was a whoosh of breath. "Okay, good. Well, I'll go find that dress and then be off. Good luck finding whatever it is you're looking for."

He was left frozen and was staring at the pile in front of him long after she went to find the dress. That…was… He stopped the train of thought there. Gah! Nope. This form is causing more trouble for me than it's worth. I'm changing back as soon as possible.

Shaking his head, Bill took a step forward and started his search, desperately trying to forget what just happened.

About ten minutes later, Bill heard the sound of footsteps passing by him. "I'll be in my room," Mabel called out.

The demon turned his head to face her and reply, but cut himself short when he saw that the pile in her arms was just a tad bit bigger than suspected. "I thought you were just grabbing a dress for yourself."

Mabel turned around, continuing her trek to the door backwards, and plastered a wide smile on her face. "I was, but I also happened upon a suit."

"What do you-?"

"I did promise that I would make you wear a different set of clothes, didn't I?"

"Wait, what?" Mabel cackled at the look of disbelief and horror on Bill's face. She turned back around and ran towards the door, her laughter interwoven with his shouts. "Shooting Star! Don't you dare! You better not-! Shooting Star!"

I learned that I get flushed very easily. I'm sure you all can guess which part I was blushing extremely at while writing this. I had way too much fun writing the last part, though. This chapter and the next one have probably been my favorite to write so far.

Thank you all so much for reading this chapter! I hope everyone enjoyed it! If you did, please review, follow, and/or favorite. They always make my day! Also, if you have any ways that I could improve my writing, please let me know. I love constructive criticism!

I hope you all stay safe, healthy, and have a wonderful rest of the day/night. I'll see you next Friday for chapter twelve! Until then…

Peace! GamerFan369