Episode 2: First lesson.
Arc: "Devil's Deal"
Opening: Shiver – Gazette.

. . .

"He's waking up!" Dipper heard someone say.

"Shh, you're being too loud." He complained, while opening his eyes, wincing lightly at the light hitting directly his eyes. There were Mabel, Soos, Wendy and Grunkle Stan surrounding him. He tried to get up at noticing he was lying on the sofa, but dizziness hit him, and he leaned against it for support. "What… What happened?" He stuttered, and winced at the pain on his head. The others looked at each other, worried. Dipper could notice their hesitation; did they know about his and Bill's deal? No, it happened on his mind, they couldn't possibly know about something like that. But, if then, what'd cause their silence? Finally, his thoughts were interrupted by Mabel, who started first.

"Well, you fainted. What happened?" She asked, worried. Dipper, for the first time while talking to his sister, didn't know what to say. He just stuttered.

"N-nothing, just a stupid headache, but it's gone." Dipper lied.

"I'm glad that's all." Mabel said, as everyone was dismissed and/or sent back to work (by Stan, of course). Dipper felt half bad for lying to Mabel, but knew that it was for her own sake. None of them could know about his deal with Bill, and if they did… How would Mabel react? Shout at him? Ignore him? Act as if it was a prank? Or simply say that he did the wrong thing? Dipper didn't know, but he was very scared of her discovering his secret. What'd she think of him? Suddenly one thing crossed his mind: her dream from the previous night. And, somehow, you were willing to go with him, Mabel's voice echoed through Dipper's mind. Would he really abandon his sister over a bloody demon? Dipper gritted his teeth and stood up abruptly, ignoring the dizziness one more time, and going to his room in the attic. "Dipper?" Mabel asked, unsure of what else to say, but it was too late. Dipper had locked himself on his room.

Dipper sat on his bed, sighing, and then he lied on his bed. Dipper closed his eyes, and then drifted off to sleep.

…

"Bill, where am I now?" Dipper asked, as he looked around. That place didn't sound like the dreamscape. It wasn't equal. It looked like a forest. A quiet forest. Dipper ignored the sound of growls peeking through his ears, and tried to find Bill. Something told him that it sounded more like a nightmare than a dream. Especially because the sound of growls was getting louder. Much more louder. Dipper's eye twitched uncomfortably as he felt a hot breath next to his ear. Closing his eyes, Dipper spun on his heels and shouted. "BILL, CAN YOU STOP IT?!" And then he opened his eyes. That wasn't Bill. Dipper felt the color being drained off his face as he realized that he was staring at a snake. A 15 meter tall snake. "Oh my—" He barely had time to finish the sentence.

The snake hissed at him, and then it went to attack him. Dipper avoided the first lunge, but wasn't as successful the next time. The snake lunged at him again, and then gave him a head-butt. Dipper was sent flying to a nearby tree; the creature had an unimaginable strength. The snake lunged to him again and again, and this time he avoided perfectly. Dipper jumped on its head, and, on a failed attempt to get him off its head, the snake lunged to a tree and tried to hit its head to it, trying to make Dipper collide with the tree. However, Dipper was smarter than the snake and jumped on the tree's nearest branch, as the snake hit its head on the tree's trunk. The snake tried to hang onto its consciousness but failed as it unceremoniously fell to the ground.

"Aww, is the fun over already?" A voice asked from below Dipper. He looked down, and saw Bill Cipher under him, on a lower branch. "I was expecting more of a show, but you were quite fast defeating that snake." Dipper narrowed his eyes at the demon. You! He thought, knowing that the demon could read minds, especially because he didn't have any words to express how angry he was. "Me. Did you miss me? Admit it, you miss me!" The demon started poking the boy with his cane in a playful manner. Something Dipper didn't like at all.

"You tried to kill me!" Dipper shouted, pointing a finger of accusation at him. Bill laughed, while Dipper growled again, frustrated and tired of the demon's constant mocking.

"But I didn't kill you, did I?" Bill asked rhetorically. Surely he'd be grinning if he had a face. Without a proper answer, Dipper stuttered, and then gave up, his cheeks flushed. He crossed his arms and looked to the side. "Aww, the baby is pouting. How adorable." He said in a mocking tone. Dipper refused to talk to him. Or even think about all curses and bad words that were probably about to pass through his mind for the next ten minutes. "Hey, aren't you going to say something?"

"Something. Happy now?" Dipper asked, feeling frustrated.

"Yes." Bill answered mockingly, as he disappeared. Dipper looked around, trying to find a psychotic floating nacho, and then said nacho appeared behind him, startling him and almost making him fall. He just didn't fall because he held a branch in time. "Ah, Pine Tree, you're so easy to scare." Bill laughed. Dipper grimaced.

"Can you stop laughing and help me out here? Otherwise, if I die, our deal will be over." Dipper explained in the most reasonable way possible. Bill, still laughing, snapped his fingers quickly, and Dipper floated, surrounded by a blue aura. "What the he…" Dipper mentally scolded himself for almost cursing out loud, but he was so impressed that he didn't even care. "You can put me down already, Bill." Dipper announced out loud, making the glowing aura around him fade. He fell on the tree's branch, which cracked and then he fell to the floor. As weird as it was, he didn't feel any pain. "…" Dipper said nothing as he narrowed his eyes at Bill, the one who technically was the one to blame for all of the weird things that happened to him today. You know what? Risk the 'technically' from the sentence. He was truly the one to blame for all this. Bill hovered above him.

"You said I could put you down." He defended himself, raising his hands.

"Did you need to be so harsh?" Dipper asked rhetorically, already knowing the answer didn't need to answer that. With some difficulty, he managed to keep himself on a sitting position. The weirdest thing was that he probably fell off a 15-meter tall tree, but didn't get hurt. I shouldn't get so surprised, he thought bitterly, I'm, right now, having to deal with a psychotic nacho-like triangle, and nothing else is weirder than that. And besides, I'm dreaming, this isn't real, which means I can't die. Dipper sighed. That was what he wished, but unfortunately, he was awake. Just… Awake inside. "So, why are we here anyway? It certainly isn't a prank of yours." He guessed.

"Ding-ding! We have a winner!" Bill joked, his colors changing from yellow to blue and vice versa. "Surely it isn't a prank, but almost. You're here for your first lesson." Bill said. "Ready to die on your first day of lesson?" Dipper frowned.

"As funny as that was, no." Dipper answered.

"Okay, let's stop talking. The first lesson is simple: levitation." Before Dipper could say something, a flash of light caused him to close his eyes. After he sensed that the light was gone, he opened his eyes, and stiffened at what he saw. There, in front of him, was a man on his early 20's, with blonde hair, yellow eyes and using triangle-shaped jewelry. Well, apparently normal, for Bill Cipher. "I'm on my human form now, and, yesh, you humans are such weird creatures." Bill said, analyzing himself on his human form, as if he hadn't seen it before. "It feels like it's been so long since I haven't experienced being on a human body that wasn't a host's." He muttered.

"What would you want with your human form, then?" Dipper asked, crossing his arms and frowning. He definitely was getting bored. And very confused. That was his first lesson, was the first lesson about levitation or toleration? Because he definitely couldn't tolerate Bill and his weirdness.

"It'll make your lessons easier, since I can identify with you, lower beings." Bill explained; Dipper furrowed his brows upon being referred to as a 'lower being'. "Enough with the pep talk. To levitate, you need to concentrate first. After some training, you'll be doing it naturally. Now close your eyes." Dipper sighed, but complied. He waited for Bill's next instruction. "Good, now empty your mind, just think about nothing." Dipper opened his eyes, and was really confused.

"If I think about nothing, then I'll be thinking about thinking of nothing, won't I?" Dipper wanted a reaction, something to make the atmosphere in that place a little less unsettling.

"Doesn't matter, just think about black." Bill said, narrowing his eyes at the brown-haired boy. He's stubborn, Bill thought, I like that. Dipper inhaled, to prevent him from lunging at the demon at full speed, and then closed his eyes again. Unwillingly, Bill smiled at that. The boy, although not fully trusting the demon, would obey him. Maybe that was a sign of trust…? Bill would have to wait until Dipper fully trusted him. "Now think about something you like, something that makes you feel free." Dipper's hands clenched into fists as he tried to remember something that made him free. Probably it wasn't chasing monsters around and almost killing himself. Dipper remembered of one day when he was flying with Mabel on that weird gryphon-creature that had stolen one of her sweaters and a pot of glitter. It made him feel free, it made him feel brave. Dipper felt the air around him get lighter. "Well, now open your eyes." Dipper opened his eyes, and looked around. He could see the 'sky' of the dreamscape. And the clouds. He looked down, and saw HOW high he was.

"AH!" Dipper shrieked, that was worse than when he was almost dropped by said gryphon. He fell, losing his focus, and then landed on a tree branch. That time, it really hurt — was it possible to even get hurt in the dreamscape? "Ugh…" He moaned. Bill floated around him, barely containing his laughter. "Don't laugh…" Dipper warned between teeth, just to have Bill to have a laughing fit. Dipper waited until it stopped, and had a serious face all the way.

"Sorry, Pine Tree, but… what was that?" Bill said, sniggering.

"I got startled. I was too high!" Dipper explained. "I thought I was going to levitate a few millimeters from the floor! Not as high as a skyscraper!" Bill rolled his eyes. The kid was a fast learner, but needed to control his fears. Maybe a little more training would do it. Especially with more gigantic snakes. Because gigantic snakes are fun. "Are we going to have another lesson or what?" Dipper asked, snapping Bill out his momentary trance. Before Bill could answer anything, everything around them started to crumble. Just like the branch under Dipper. He fell, but concentrated long enough to float before hitting the floor. "Hey, I did it!" Dipper whispered quietly to himself, smiling.

"Well, tonight we'll have more lessons, and you'll learn harder things. While that, I'll be watching you." Bill said. The last part he quoted on a rather scary tone of voice, which Dipper knew he'd have to get used to. Because Bill was his… mentor. The word sent shivers through Dipper's spine. He sighed, and then slowly landed on the ground, which luckily didn't crumble under him. Somehow, Dipper knew that he had a deal with the devil, and he was becoming his apprentice in order to protect his family from said devil. He didn't how to distinguish reality from illusion anymore. That'd make him laugh if it wasn't tragically tragic. The whole world around him crumbled until all he saw was darkness…

…

Dipper opened his eyes in a heartbeat. He looked around, analyzing every inch of the room. He was back in the attic. He tried to remind the events of his dream. He had fallen asleep. Bill had taught him his first lesson. Levitation. And tried to kill him with a giant snake. Or at least tried to make him stronger, which wasn't exactly working. Well, that was fun, Dipper thought while smiling a little; why was he smiling, though? Bill had tried to kill him, shouldn't he be mad? For some reason, he couldn't be. He stands up, hopping out of bed, and then proceeds to get dressed. He grabbed his navy-blue vest, his pine tree hat and his socks, not even realizing what Bill had done to him between his shoulder blades. There, lay Bill Cipher's wheel, with a triangle in the middle of said wheel. Dipper wouldn't notice that. Perhaps that was Bill's intention.

"Morning." He said to Mabel. She smiled at him. He could sense waves of unease emanating from her. Wait, when could he feel that? Bill, he thought bitterly. That didn't matter right now.

"Good morning. I made normal pancakes because the extra shiny sprinkles were gone! But it's okay; I'll buy new ones secretly using Grunkle Stan's money again." Dipper stifled a laugh. Indeed Mabel was a funny girl, she lightened up his morning already. She handed him the pancakes. "And after what happened today, I don't want you fainting again." Dipper was about to take a bite of his pancake when he heard that. Did Mabel really think that it was her fault? Dipper sighed, putting his fork down, and stood up. He went to her side, and grabbed both her shoulders, forcing eye contact. Mabel's eyes widened, was it just her imagination or her brother was a little more confident?

"It's not your fault, Mabel! I already had that headache when I took a bite of the pancake! So stop blaming yourself for everything! I don't want to see you sad…" With this last statement, Dipper looked down at the floor. He'd hate the idea of Mabel – his overly cheerful sister – sad and depressed, all because of him. "So smile, ok?" He asked, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Mabel smiled softly at him, and then hugged him. "Whoa!" Dipper exclaimed as both of them almost fell at the floor if it wasn't for some kind of invisible force that was keeping them from falling. Bill…

"Thank you, Dipper, for being the best brother ever." Mabel said, smiling at him. He smiled back. She broke the hug and then looked at him, still smiling. "We're siblings, right?" She asked, which made Dipper wonder why she'd ask something like that. He nodded. "And you promise that, when you have a secret, you'll tell it to me, right?" Dipper's smile turned into a frown. "Right?" Mabel asked, now she was worried about Dipper's reaction for her question. Was he keeping a secret from her and refused to tell her? Did he trust her at all? She wouldn't tell anyone! Not even Candy or Grenda! Suddenly Dipper smiled.

"Right…" He said. Mabel finished her last pancake in one bite and went to leave the kitchen, when Dipper called her. "Mabel!" He called. "I have to tell you something." Will I really do that? Dipper thought, I promised I'd keep it a secret, but I can't disappoint my sister. What will I do? Mabel turned to him, waiting for an answer. "Uh, it's nothing. Sorry." Dipper apologized, rubbing the back of his head in shame. Mabel nodded.

"Don't hesitate in telling me if something is wrong." She said, before exiting the kitchen, followed by her pet pig, Waddles. Dipper sighed, as he sat on a chair, and banged his head on the table.

…What to do?

A/N (important): Hi! *avoids pebbles and anvils*

Sorry for the late update, but I've updated this on March 23, so I'm updating now on March 30 because I've decided that I'll update once a week. Makes things easier, huh? And besides, I have school stuff to do and I also analyze any kind of errors on grammar and such. I have the entire story plot line written, but I'm not going to write it fast. I want this story to be slow, and with the secrets being slowly revealed, and big, because as you know it's my first story. And I'm so happy! I had it for two years, but it was forgotten and etc. Now that I've started writing the 'cipher secret' saga it'll be better for me. I hope I get good grades at school, or I won't be able to update!

Don't worry, I'm sure I'll get good grades and, if I don't, the story will be on hiatus for a while, until I can enter on my computer again. And I promise to try my best to make a bigger chapter. And I'm also making bigger chapters if the A/Ns doesn't count. Well, that's all I have to say for a while.

EDIT (03/29/2017): This story happens a little after Gideon is arrested but still before Scare-oke. I'll say the same thing on chapter 41. Thank you for reading :3 I've also edited a lot of things on this chapter.

Awakened Niwana, off.