A/N: Here's Chapter Four! I leave you to read with this warning...
MASSIVE FEELS AHEAD!
Chapter Themes:
1. Prince Whateverer - The Fight Within (Aviators Remix)
Some of the verses fit.
2. Wooden Toaster + H8Seed - Awoken
Beg.
1/3/2016
4:21p
Chapter Four: Nightmares
It was getting late, as far as Bill Cipher could tell. He had stopped time, so he was going by his instinct. Plus, he was somewhat tired, as was a "perk" of being in physical form.
"Whew, aside from puppeting Pine Tree, I never thought I'd get tired..." the triangle mumbled, exiting from yet another building, "at least... not here or now..."
Bill knew he had to find someplace decent right now to get some sleep. He thought back to his demon friends, wondering if they'll be okay with him gone, and even if they even worried about him. The triangle then, with a dismissive wave of his hand, figured they'd be fine and that they were probably worried about just a smidge but not so much, considering what he could do.
He didn't feel like going back to the Fearamid anyway, for a reason he did not yet know.
Bill "yawned", and he knew he had to glide across the path more quickly. Why his mind didn't bother him about going to sleep and kept him awake didn't cross his mind.
The dream demon thought about going back to Isaac's home and seeking some sort of refuge there, and mulled it over for quite a while. He decided that maybe returning to the boy's abode would be great; the boy would be familiar with him and thus no new incident would arise.
Though perhaps there would be unwanted ones, he'd deal with them all, just as he had before.
And so Bill Cipher made his way back to Isaac's house, floating rather close to the ground and yawning once... twice... and then thrice.
Finally, when it seemed he was about to fall and pass out, he was in the building and soon in the same room as that picture. On the way, he couldn't help checking on Isaac, and the kid was still fast asleep. He couldn't help smiling, but he didn't try to crush that feeling. Bill Cipher narrowed his eye at the family photo in thought, snagging it off the dresser and looking at it with much closer inspection as he levitated onto the bed.
Someday, he'd get the kid's parents back...
...even if they may have died due to petrification and their wounds combined...
...he'd get them back...
...no matter what...
The demon traced their smiles once more and then carefully lay down with the frame still in hand, it somewhat lying on his "chest" now, which didn't move up or down. He didn't even need to breathe, and yet he often found himself sighing, yawning, and anything else to do with a fleshba―human's respiratory system.
Bill began finding the species somewhat intriguing, and began considering that maybe he should be studying them instead of trying to destroy them.
Or perhaps he could do more than study... his thoughts grew more excited. He could―! and then he slowly pushed it aside, as if reluctant, and sighed again.
He couldn't feed into this right about now.
It was keeping him awake, and he couldn't afford to be sleepy during his search for Nasla's blanket. It would be a train wreck―that he could tell.
Bill could imagine it clearly... and he shuddered.
"Ugh, at this rate I'll never go to sleep!" he groaned quietly, "just... keep quiet on your thoughts... and your talking..."
He closed his eye, and eventually fell asleep, hoping to get nice dreams of torturing fleshbags as he always had, but instead...
...there was a memory, one that focused on Isaac's parents.
He was more or less forced to live through that again.
And this time he didn't enjoy it...
"No... stop!" Bill cried out as his nightmare self began practically electrocuting them with his bare hands, but neither Robert, Maria nor himself heard his cries against it, for the demon kept tormenting them. He watched as he got worse and worse in his methods, and broke down crying when Maria got separated from Robert.
And poor Robert had to watch.
Bill Cipher forced him to watch as he subjugated the lady to the worst mental horrors ever.
As much as he wanted to wake up, he couldn't for some reason, despite being a dream demon. He found this odd, and he tried desperately to block out the bloodcurdling screams and pleas of his victims and his crazed, evil laughter...
It was then when he woke up, having felt multiple pokes in his bowtie and top hat, and was face-to-face with Isaac. Bill sighed and it took all he had not to cry, especially out of relief that it was just a dream. The demon soon realized he had woken the poor kid, and his eye drooped once more, apologetically, "S...sorry..."
The boy shrugged, rubbing at his eyes, "It's fine..."
There was a large, unassuming silence between the two of them, as the shivering triangle kept staring sadly and apologetically at Isaac while Isaac was wondering what was wrong behind that tired, emotionless expression of his. The boy's eye wandered to the photo in Bill's trembling hand, and the latter realized, looking down at it. The frame and the glass were slightly cracked, as he had been holding it extremely tightly, and thus...
Bill cringed and "sniffled", returning the photo, "I... I'll replace it..."
The boy merely nodded, taking the frame back, "Okay... thank you..." but the demonic triangle, with his newfound waterfall of empathy, could tell how hurt he was, even with how apathetic the boy seemed.
This was... different, the boy thought.
This Bill seemed so somber, so quiet, and much more openly empathetic this time around.
Not to mention openly kinder.
Isaac wondered for a moment whether he was meeting a triangle who just so happened to look like Bill Cipher, but there was no mistaking that this was Bill.
How he knew his name?
Well, he'd heard it literally screamed at the top of the demon's metaphorical lungs, along with a loud "NO!", just before he poked his bowtie. Meanwhile, said demon was still shuddering and shivering, unbidden tears welling up despite him trying to stop them.
He couldn't tell what was wrong...
Not to anyone, but especially not to this boy.
Bill had the nagging suspicion that Isaac had no idea what happened to his parents, and, most importantly, who made his parents disappear.
He couldn't do that...
It bothered him that before all this he would have wasted no time in rubbing it in the kid's face... but now?
Now, he wouldn't bring it up for fear of hurtling the boy through hell and back...
And telling him would definitely trigger that.
Bill, at this moment, was starting to regret coming here.
He shouldn't have come here...
He shouldn't have come here...
He shouldn't have come here...
He was far too vulnerable, much more than he liked to be, which was not at all. There was yet another poke, and the demon was brought back to reality and found that he'd let tears slip down from his eye, and felt that his bowtie was soaked. He silently cursed at himself, and Isaac looked even more concerned, as much as a practically emotionless boy with what seemed to be a mild and strange post-traumatic stress could look, having leaned in closer. The boy asked, "What's wrong?
The demon looked at Isaac, his saddened eye narrowed, and it took a while before he finally said, "Everything..."
The boy didn't seem to understand, "Wait, what do you mean?"
"Just... everything!" Bill snapped, for a moment returning to that same personality Isaac had seen earlier that day, but this wasn't permanent, for the demon went back to moping, "I... I don't know who I am anymore...
"It's like I'm two different people now... and I don't like it... it's so tortur―" and then he thought better of telling a kid all this, a mere fleshling who no doubt wouldn't understand this at all, and a mere boy who had enough on his plate already. "Bah! why am I even telling you?! I doubt you'd understand!" and before Isaac could even interject that he didn't but could help, Bill growled, "And I can deal with this on my own, thank you very much!"
The boy shook his head slightly, begging to differ, but nonetheless was comforted when Bill seemed to return to his usual self. He decided to leave the subject alone, and this was when the demon yawned again.
He felt himself going to sleep, but he didn't want to, lest he may end up having another nightmare.
But he also felt as if he wouldn't get another; he wondered if his mind was just playing tricks on him, making him think this next one was going to be restful.
However, he had to get some semblance of sleep, or else...
Isaac noticed Bill's eye get droopier, and he didn't bother him; he simply backed away, emotionless dark blue eyes still staring at the triangle. The demon took the boy's features in this time; last time he hardly cared about that. He looked a little like his arch-enemy, more like Dipper Gleeful, but with a much different hairstyle, his dark brown hair heavily disheveled, and he was wearing spotted pajamas; he also seemed unhealthily skinny...
Bill shook his "head", driving away the rising concern. He'd never go to sleep if he started worrying, for his compassion was almost completely unmanageable at this point. After he succeeded cutting down his compassion to reasonable levels, he drifted off to sleep again...
...only to be dropped into the same memory once more.
This time, he was able to move more freely, and tried to stop his nightmare self from beginning the torture on Robert and Maria, but he found he was unable to...
"I'm gonna have to cut you down a few sizes!"
And then there were those looks again... the looks that would haunt him forever...
His nightmare self's hands enveloped with fire, blue and red fire, and his eye was filled with utter malice and sadism. Bill tried to stop N. Bill, grabbing for his hands before they even touched the married couple, but they phased right through them, much to his shock and dismay.
"No! NO!" he cried out as his nightmare self shouted, "Now, let's see how you handle this!" and grabbed the couple's arms, and his hands both burnt and electrocuted them.
"Stop! stop!" he cried again, but the nightmare wouldn't stop. He tried to change his dreamscape again, to something more pleasant, but he couldn't...
He just couldn't access his powers...
...and this concerned him deeply.
Now, it came time for Maria's separation and subjugation to horrors mankind couldn't possibly imagine as well as stabs to her body, and Maria cried and shouted and screamed, unaware that this only gave her predator glee.
While Robert and Bill himself watched...
...completely helpless...
Bill felt more pokes to his soaked bowtie, and he woke up again in a cold sweat, which meant his treasured bowtie was also covered in sweat...
Great... was the only sarcastic mutter he could manage, and it wasn't just towards his bowtie either...
His eye wandered over to Isaac, who had taken on even more of a worried gaze.
"Are you sure you'll be able to handle this on your own?" the boy asked with more emotion than he'd been displaying all day. Bill merely tossed him a tearful glare, shivering once more; he grabbed the blankets and curled up within them. Isaac grew unimpressed with the demon's antics, and left Bill curled up within his once parents' blankets. He was about to leave the room; Bill looked up from the blankets and saw this, and, before he could even think about it...
"Kid... please stay... I... just stay please!"
...that came out, and Isaac was alarmed, turning back to face the triangle swathed in blankets. Bill looked terrified of being alone with his nightmares, and Isaac wondered if he should fulfill the demon's demands.
One choice slid in―"Yes"―but that wasn't enough.
Another choice―"Definitely"―but Isaac still wasn't swayed.
And then "Absolutely" rolled around, and the boy knew what he must do.
He stayed, pulling up a chair and taking a seat at Bill's bedside.
"...thank you," the demon sounded utterly relieved that Isaac wasn't leaving, and the boy simply nodded. Isaac figured that since he was there for him―walking him to bed, tucking him in and even reading him a bedtime story―when he didn't even want to, the boy could do the same, despite wanting to go back to sleep.
A few minutes later, Bill fell asleep, and seemed at peace for the first few seconds...
...and then he began tossing and turning and shouting in his sleep, and the boy was quick to end the nightmare with a poke. The demon grew increasingly saddened, and, most of all, irritated at all this. The kid tilted his head, still wondering what was wrong and tried to coax Bill into telling, but again the three-sided polygon said no. There was a yawn from both the boy and Bill, and the latter didn't want to fall asleep, drawing the blankets closer, but Isaac convinced him, "Maybe you won't have another bad dream...?
"Pheh, that's what they all say!" the demon shot back, but nonetheless lay back down and drifted off again. This time, his peace lasted a longer time, and Isaac nodded off repeatedly as he tried to stay awake but avoided glancing around. Memories permeated this room, and he couldn't bear to reminisce now.
He tried his best to stay awake, but ended up falling asleep, sprawled eventually rather awkwardly in his chair; unfortunately, this was when Bill had yet another nightmare of the same thing...
...only this time, it focused on Maria getting separated.
He shouted in his sleep, but Isaac was caught in a deep part of his cycle. Bill tossed and turned, trying to wake up, but couldn't, and he wondered frantically why the pokes never came.
They were effectively his ticket out of this mess, but they never came...
The demon tried again, and again, and then he could feel the nightmare relent, as if saying he'd undergone enough, and he took this chance to wake up on his own, almost shooting up out of bed. He was shivering again, and then his gaze wandered onto Isaac, a question forming, but it evaporated when he saw that the kid was sleeping...
Bill sighed, and he'd be thankful the kid wouldn't see him again like something pitiful and pathetic if it weren't for these damned nightmares. Bill Cipher debated going back to sleep, but it only took a couple seconds for a "NO!" to buzz through his brain.
He'd had enough of sleep for one day, and maybe even for the rest of his life, and then he looked at Isaac uncomfortably sprawled in that chair. The demon didn't feel up to it to bring him back to his own room, so he, firing up his magic, levitated the kid onto the bed after he got out of it himself.
Bill tucked him in once more, folding the blankets properly onto him, and then, satisfied, left the room. He had to think of something else to do to pass the "night"...
Fin.
Jan. 8, 2016
10:17a
A/N: And here's chapter four! there's a reason I didn't go all in detail with his nightmare, especially with what happened to Maria. I'm leaving it all up to your imagination, but just know that you can think what you want but events of the nightmare won't be above the rating T+ at best.
Poor Bill though. Stupid nightmares. But it had to be written. I also hope I got Bill in character. Also, wasn't expecting Isaac to make a return... but I had to do it, and this time I gave him a proper description.
Anyway, I'm off to write the next chapter, but I kinda sorta feel like a Writer's Block is coming on. That and college is starting for me again Monday, so uploads will be slow. Sorry about that. I'm really, very sorry about that, and I'll try my best to juggle Google Plus, writing, AND making music and videos and playing video games ((it's a maybe for the last three)) and school.
And for the guests who say they love it, thank you. XD
P.S. I'm going to be assigning a theme song to each chapter. So I'll be editing each chapter, one by one, to put in theme songs. So look forward to that. I'll tell you whether I did it or not in the next update. Soooo, I overstayed my welcome. CIAO!