Chapter 31: The Wanderer
The world around him was nothing but a blur as he walked down the crowded streets of some random dimension he had slipped in, the world tinted darkly as the goggle fitted over his glasses and a dark blue scarf wrapped around his neck to cover the lower half of his face.
He didn't have a care in the world as he rudely bumped into pedestrians, him only seeing the main goal in his mind.
Killing Bill Cipher and Magum.
Bill was a being that Ford could read, the man having had spent a lot of time with the triangular demon. He could tell that Bill was sadistic enough to play people like dolls, to flatter them easily with false words of his silver tongue, and of course to have a beloved puppet.
Puppet.
That was one of Bill's favorite words.
And that was what Ford had become.
Ford was nothing but a puppet to these demons, playing in the hands of Bill and even Magum. It infuriated him, his blood boiling, that he was not smart enough to see through them. And now because of his ignorance the world was in jeopardy and Layla was dead.
He slips into an alleyway and grabs the couple of books he had inside his trench coat. First he pulled out the book that was Magum's, written in an odd language. Secondly he pulls out the book the merchant had given him, an ancient text that helped decipher the language. Ford flips through the pages, recognizing a couple of languages thanks to Layla but needed to come up with a better tactic in communication. Once he found a language he was the most familiar with he began deciphering what Magum had wrote, and it was honestly taking extremely long.
By the time darkness was clouding the skies overhead Ford had honestly deciphered half of the first page. He had to translate the ancient language into an alien language he had a decent grasp on. But, even that wasn't enough as Ford had to then translate it into English, which frustrated him as some words in the alien language didn't have an exact translation in English.
"'Since ancient times we powerful groups of demons had overran this part of the multiverse,'" Ford began to read aloud to himself. "'But, this part of the multiverse should be enough, correct? No, what we need is more power. We, the Hierarchy of Demons, are considered the most powerful forms of demons, said to have been born originally from the Satanic Hierarch, and categorized into the following: Blood Demons, Dream Demons, Psychological Demons, Love Demons, Fear Demons, Cosmic Demons, and a couple of others that had fallen off the scale as they have become unworthy of their titles.'"
Ford had only translated that much, and it confused him. The merchant had said that out of the Hierarchy of Demons that Bill and Magum were the only ones still alive, besides of course severely diluted descendants. If these were powerful demons how did they get killed by the others? There had to be some sort of weapon, some sort of cosmic energy substance that had the ability to eradicate these powerful demons out of existence.
Bill has a zodiac wheel… and so does Magum… did the demons that were mentioned that were "unworthy" of being part of the Hierarchy of Demons made these to stop them from wiping out everyone?
Ford shuts the books and stuffs them back into his trench coat. With a defeated sigh and leaned against the wall in the alleyway he was in. Never had he ever felt so alone.
His entire life he had his twin brother at his side, the two conquering whatever life threw at them. But after such a high betrayal of trust Ford had cut his twin out of his life, thinking he was better off alone to pursue his future. But even then he had felt lonely being alone in his house in the woods all the time and he befriended a demon. Then of course there was his trusted friend Fiddleford McGucket, who had warned Ford that portal was dangerous when he had accidently slipped inside during a test run, but once again Ford became alone when he cut his friend out. But soon after is when Ford realized that Bill had been using him, making him paranoid at his surroundings and questioning his very sanity.
He had thought he was better off alone.
Until he met Layla.
He trusted her, not at first but he did because she knew how to survive. He also had a feeling not to trust her because of her father. But the more time he spent with her, the more they talked and interacted, it felt so natural that the moment she was there was some sort of void inside of him. Not only did the trust shatter, his heart did too.
Now two people he loved and cared about were out of his life.
His brother, Stanley. His love, Layla.
Not wanting to think about it he gets up and moves out of the alleyway, seeing a significant decrease in pedestrians. His boots clicked lightly on the cobblestone ground, him heading toward anywhere with a source of light. Ford wanted to continue to transcribe the language in Magum's book, and he also didn't want to sleep.
Ford didn't want Bill to enter his dreams.
Despite Bill being a demon, a demon it seemed like needed a contract of some kind, or a deal. With this deal the demon can have access to the person they had made the contract with. This could be possession and full access to their memories/functions. It seemed like the person they made a contract with was some sort of catalyst, as if their original bodies were nonexistent.
Ford remembered that Layla had said that Magum was using a host body, someone whom he had made a contract with. But, he had a physical form somewhere else, which was the form Ford had seen as he and Layla…
He shakes his head.
Ford mumbles under his breath, remembering how Bill technically didn't have a physical body, that is was stripped away. How was it stripped away? Who had done it if Bill and Magum were the only ones living that were once part of the Hierarchy of Demons? There had to be something that was higher than the demons, some sort of deity… but what?
Once Ford made it to what looked like a bar he slips inside and heads to the most lighted part of the room. He sits at a seemingly empty table and sits away from the other patrons, taking out his books and blocking out all the noise as he focused on his task; although from time to time his thoughts drifted over onto how Layla would be slamming down drinks… how her inconsistent drunk babbling would humor him… how she was very clingy to him…
Ford's hand stop writing out his translations, it trembling causing his pen that he had found in some sort of office setting to shake terribly. His eyes stung as he felt hot tears stain his cheeks, a couple of drops hitting the ancient paper. Slowly, he shuts the books and stuffs them back into his trench coat. Right now he couldn't focus on that… he needed to do something.
He went up to the bar after he had dried his eyes, asking the bartender for two shots of their hardest alcohol. Once he was given the drinks Ford gave him some form of currency he managed to pickpocket from someone recently. Ford goes back to his seat and sets the drinks on the table, the liquid trembling as the other patrons down the table began slamming their fists down onto the tabletop.
You need to lighten up, Ford.
One of us has to be sober.
"Lighten up, huh?" Ford mumbles darkly to himself as he picked up the shot and slammed it. It was oddly sweet in the back of his throat, but because of not eating and the strong alcohol content his vision was already starting to get blurry. "I-I'll l-l-lighten up…" he slurred as he took the second shot.
His vision completely blacks out as his head slammed into the table.
"Well, IQ, did you like your drink?"
Ford gasps as he stood up in the wheat field, once again in his dreamscape. His brown eyes narrow darkly as he glanced around, trying to find the source of that damn shrill voice.
"That is so sweet!" Bill's voice mocked, his tone turning disgusted at the word "sweet". "You're drinking for her aren't you? Gotta say, that Layla was quite an alcoholic…"
"Shut up," Ford's voice was soft, but filled with anger. Even though his tone was soft, it seemed to project forward. "I will destroy you…"
"What're ya gonna do, Sixer?" Bill laughed humorlessly. "You're a scientist! What is energy?"
Ford recites perfectly from his memory banks, him have taken so many different physics classes during his college years, "Energy is a property of object which can be transferred into other objects or converted into different forms."
"Exactly, IQ!" Bill cheered as he suddenly appeared in front of Ford, small in size, poking his forehead. "Also… energy cannot be made or destroyed… only changed! I'm a demonic being of pure energy! You CAN'T kill me!"
"Then how the hell did you and Magum kill the other demons!?" Ford screams. "Including your own kind!?"
Bill's body then flashes different scenes, oddly looking like many different kinds of beings being eradicated from existence. A certain scene kept flashing, what looked like a whole land being burned by blue fire.
"We didn't 'kill' them really…" Bill stated. "It's more like… we transferred their energy into us."
Ford's eyes widened. "You mean to tell me… that all those demons… including demons form your own home… are part of your energy makeup…?" he asked, trying to process all the information.
Bill's size grows immensely, his one eye glaring into Ford. His eye was a solid black, his slit pupil now a blood red.
"And they are still alive… being tortured within me very fabric of being… watching... begging to be released… their very fiber of being used to kill and slaughter everything in my path… and oh how their cries amuse me!
"Even though I may not have a true physical form… yet… all the energy is mine to manipulate! One thing you and I got in common, Ford, cut the 'friends' you have…"
Ford flinched repulsively at that statement. "We aren't alike," he growled. He then thinks back to the merchant. "You and Magum were friends at one point… and he made you take all the blame and your physical form was taken away… who did it?"
"Like I'd tell you…" Bill lowly replied, his voice taking on a dangerous tone. The wheat field then began to become engulfed in blue flames. "And if you keep digging… well, I can't stop you… but you may not like the answers…"
Ford shouts, "What the hell does that mean!?"
"O'LL VS AWDUPOJ YIC!" Bill's insane cackle echoes around as the blue flames grew and grew, even slowly engulfing Ford.
Ford shouts as he tries to slap away the flames, but it seemed to only make things worse. Ge felt the flames lick across him, searing into him, feeling as if being branded by hot metal. He screams loudly at the immense pain, and it felt as if would never end…
He gasps loudly as he eyes flew open, his head on the table at the bar that he was in. The room was substantially much quieter, the last of the patrons leaving. Ford looks around, seeing that he was the only one still sitting. He gets up, and like the rest of the bar goers, he leaves.
I may not like the answers…? Well… having answers will be better than not having them…
As he left the bar he goes into an alley way, seeing a shimmer in the distance. A natural portal was opening up, a chance for him to leave this current dimension. With no hesitation he goes through, the other side nothing but a grassy landscape.
Ford puts on his goggles and raises the scarf that had once belonged to Layla over the lower half of his face. The lone wanderer begins to walk through the grassy hills, the wind gently blowing a breeze across the blades of grass.
There was no one to accompany him anymore. No twin brother. No friend. No lover.
Just him, and only him, the lone wanderer.
