A/N: And here's Chapter Three! it's relatively short compared to the first two. I hope you all enjoy it nonetheless!

Chapter Theme: Metallica - Frantic

Beg.
12/29/2015
4:05p

Chapter Three: The Search

Once again, Bill fought off this concern for Nasla, to some degree of success, as he floated across the cracked pavement towards her location. He kept his eye down, not wanting to see the ruins that was once the great but relatively quaint town of Gravity Falls, only looking up to make sure he was going in the right direction and also to make sure he wasn't about to crash into anything. The demon had a few close calls, and he sighed of relief; he didn't want to make whatever was going on in his head worse.

The isosceles thought back to that experience with Isaac, and then to Isaac himself. He didn't even try to forget, because he knew it would result in failure, especially since it was a rather powerful memory. But he had a sense that perhaps, if he delved deeper into it, he might find out what caused himself to go wrong...

...or go right, as the case may be.

Bill shook his "head", narrowing his eye.

No.

If he searched for the answer, he'd end up even more lost, and his compassion might boil up to the breaking point.

That he did not want.

The demon chanced a look at the buildings and homes, hoping inwardly that this was just some sort of nasty nightmare. The despair nearly choked him when he saw it was still in that same broken state in which he left it, but, like that compassion, he snuffed this out too.

Just focus on Nasla... just focus on Nasla... he all but chanted as he continued his journey back to that corner, eye on the pavement again. But when he arrived, the corner was empty, and Bill's heart dropped. The demon stammered, before finally this came out, "I thought I told her to stay put!"

He recalled then that he said no such thing, and facepalmed, groaning. This time he almost did drag his eye off his face, his concern for her and frustration at himself nearly skyrocketing.

What if the Head had actually eaten her?

What if she got petrified and flown off to the Fearamid?

WHAT IF―?!

Bill stopped these thoughts cold in their tracks, and slight apathy snowed in, mixing with his now diminished worry.

"Oh, she's fine... she probably either ran or wandered off..." he crossed his arms, eyeing where Nasla used to be. The dream demon looked around, hand now on his "chin" and eye narrowed, "She couldn't have gotten far..."

And thus the search for both Nasla and her blanket began, much to Bill's already skyrocketed irritation, and it mounted above his concern, which was a minor relief, but being irritated was irritating, probably just as much as his concern.

The dream demon continued down the street, following the paved path away from the corner; he brought up his all-seeing eye power to look through all triangles, searching for predominately Nasla. Her blanket could wait a while; a life could be in danger, and he wanted to make sure she was at least okay.

Why he didn't crush this feeling this time, he wasn't sure at all, but it didn't matter...

...not this time...

The dream demon eventually found her, cowering under a table in one of the buildings he had yet to check. Bill sighed of relief, visibly showing it too, and he finally snuffed out the concern and relief. And then he vanished...

The girl was still cowering underneath the table in a derelict inn, even when what had given her fright had long since gone away.

She remembered it clearly.

She was just standing on the corner, waiting for Bill Cipher, her life-saver, to reappear with her lucky blanket in hand. When, suddenly, she heard shuffling noises in the near distance to her right, and then a voice that radiated of innocence and nervosity, "Hey, little girl!" Nasla looked up, shocked, and the voice continued, "Yes, you. Do... do you mind...? y'know, getting in my mouth...?"

She gasped and then looked that way, her eyes practically widening to the size of saucers. It was a strange monstrosity, with a huge hand grown out of the top of its bodiless head.

And it was getting closer...

She backed away from it, and he―she had discerned that the voice belonged to it―sighed, "No, not that way. Toward me... you see, I'm a hungry mo-very hungry monster."

This puzzled her.

This thing actually believed she wanted to get eaten...?

Well, that just wasn't gonna happen.

"Now, I'll give you so-something if you get in my mouth," he continued, dragging itself closer, from which she backed away again, and he groaned. "Just do it! I'll tell you afterwards!"

And then she took off running in the other direction, and the abomination outright growled, "Oh, come on!" but it came out as a halfhearted groan. She remembered it chased her into this very building, shouting out negotiations, all of which were ignored.

It was surprisingly fast, and strong too, and it took the sliding, automatic doors of this inn to stop it. She just barely made it, and under the table was where she remained for the entirety of the time. Nasla let out some whimpers, curling up within herself, until she saw a bright flash out of the corner of her eye, the table protecting her from the sheer brilliance, and heard a familiar voice, "Hey, kid! nice disappearing act there!" and she smiled.

"You can come out from under the table," he went on to say, and his smirk could be heard in his comments, "I assure you I didn't bring any real phobiae to mess with ya."

She didn't know how worried he actually was; he hid it so well. Nasla carefully and slowly crawled out from under the table, and Bill waited surprisingly patiently; the girl didn't even bother brushing herself down when done. She noted the lack of a blanket on his person and tilted her head, "Where's my blanket...? you said you'd come back when it was found..."

There was a sigh and Bill looked askance, "Slight change of plans, kid," and his voice was mournful. Nasla grew afraid that he wanted to convince her to take the slave offer again; she knew it was perhaps unfounded, but it got shoved in front of her mind's eye anyway.

"And no, it isn't to try again to get you to be my slave," he begrudgingly tacked on, and the fear outright dispersed, "as much as I want that..."

Bill noticeably twitched a few times, almost as if he was mentally fighting something again, but it quickly went away, and he gazed at her again, that demonic eye staring down at her, but it was demonic only in how it was structured.

"I was...well..." he, twiddling his fingers, again had trouble getting out what he had to say, "I was..." and then he suddenly snapped, clenching his fists, "I was worried, okay?!" causing Nasla to flinch.

Bill Cipher sighed again, dropping his now unclenched hands to his sides, and directed his gaze downward, eyeing the chipped floor and ripped-up carpet. Nasla pursed her lips, looking at the demon like he'd grown a mouth, and said demon cursed under his "breath", and fortunately the girl couldn't discern which it was.

"You were worried about me...? she iterated, not meaning it to mock Bill; she was actually highly curious and surprised. The three-sided polygon shot her a nasty glare, and it shut her up and told her what she needed to know.

So... he really worried about her...

Were it not for that glare, she'd say that it was sweet.

The demon huffed and then raised a finger at Nasla, the glare softening somewhat, and then pointed around this inn, "Stay... here... ya hear me? stay here."

Nasla nodded, "Okay."

And then Bill nodded practically his entire body, not wasting any more words or time on this fleshling, and he disappeared once more in that bright flash. The girl looked down at the ground, and then to where he once levitated.

She wanted to say so many things, but she was too afraid. Hopefully next time she might work up more to say, to ask. But, for now, she settled on making this inn her impromptu home, and maybe, just maybe, her blanket would soon be found...

Fin
Jan. 3, 2016
1:16a

A/N: And that's chapter three, y'all! hooray! and I can say with full confidence that Irony by Kiven is officially the theme song for this story. I posted a remix, by Clinton VanSciver, in my Song Recommendations collection on Google Plus, but the original also fits. I'd been thinking on that a lot, and yeah, that's my verdict. Heh. Go look that song up, why don'tcha? both versions! you won't regret it!
And onto Chapter Four I go!