Chapter 7: Realization
"...And after that, we haven't really heard much from him." Dipper finished, after explaining the entire history of his interactions with Bill Cipher.
Ford was a bit stunned, to say the least. At a loss for words. He needed a minute to just let all of the information sink in.
"Thank you for telling me this, Dipper. I don't blame you, you didn't know what kind of being you were dealing with." Ford stated.
"Oh, man, thank you, I was SO afraid to tell you that! I thought you were gonna tear me apart, or something!" Dipper said, relieved.
"But now that Bill is in control of Pacifica's body, and it seems he has access to some kind of powers through that staff you described, we'll need some help from the other side." Ford explained.
"Wait, you don't mean…" Dipper started.
"Yes, Dipper. We're going to perform a Seance to contact the spirit of Pacifica Northwest." Ford exclaimed.
"How's talking with her spirit gonna help?" Dipper asked.
"You'll see, just follow my lead. Come on, I have a Seance Kit back at the Shack." Ford said.
That night, Mabel, Dipper and Ford sat around the Kitchen Table with candles illuminating the area.
"So… how is this going to help?" Dipper asked.
"Pacifica's spirit still lingers in this plane," Ford explained, pouring salt in the form of a pentagram around the table, "So we're going to contact her, and we'll then be able to tether her spirit to an object that is easy to control, like a…"
"Like a Puppet?" Mabel offered.
"Yes, exactly! Do you have any of those Sock Puppets you told me about?" Ford asked.
"No, we had to blow them up to keep Bill Cipher away, but I think one of them survived, right Mabel?" Dipper stated.
"Oh, no! I'm not going to let Pacifica control Puppet Mabel!" Mabel refused angrily.
"We don't really have any other options, Mabel. We don't exactly have the time to make another one." Dipper said.
"Oh… fine." Mabel grumbled, pulling out her Mabel Puppet and placing it in the middle of the pentagram.
"And now, the Seance can begin!" Ford announced.
The three held hands, and closed their eyes shut. Ford began speaking in an unknown language, before speaking actual english.
"Spirit of Pacifica Northwest, if you can hear our plea, come to us and control this vessel!"
Yet nothing happened.
Ford repeated, "Spirit of Pacifica Northwest, if you can hear our plea, come to us and control this vessel!"
The room began to shake slightly. Dipper and Mabel could feel the vibrations of the floorboards creaking.
A blue flame began to spark around the Pentagram, but no fire appeared yet. The two were worried, but trusted Ford.
"Spirit of Pacifica Northwest… If you can hear our plea… Come to us and control this vessel!" Ford repeated once more, this time more forcefully.
The room began shaking much more violently now, the doors to the Fridge and Cupboards were opening and shutting, the floorboards began the creak as if they could collapse any minute, and the pentagram began to burn a vibrant blue.
The Pines Twins closed their eyes, when a blast of blue energy shot everyone backwards, and knocked them all out cold.
Many people say dreams are gateways into the subconscious. It's the part of our brain we cannot access, yet is open to us through our dreams. It's for this reasons most dreams don't make sense, yet we accept the reality of unrealism and fact, and rarely question its logic, or lack thereof.
In a way, Bill Cipher is a being much like our Subconscious. A being who makes sense yet no sense at the same time. This is why he is such a master at manipulating the subconscious. He knows the inner workings of dreams and nightmares so well, it has worked into his own personality.
Yet, when he was given the task to invade the mind of Pacifica Northwest, her dreams weren't like anything he's ever seen in his life.
Chains. Locked up memories, hopes, emotions, dreams and other aspirations, all locked away by silver chains scattered all around her mind. Unlike many people's minds, that is represented by a house, a building, a cave or what have you, this had no structure to it. Just an empty void where Pacifica had to keep them all locked away.
It almost made him feel bad. But, being a timeless spaceless dream demon, he didn't really care about one child in a poor family relationship. He had a job to do.
He flew to the one structured area in Pacifica's Mindscape, two platforms connected by a Staircase. On the top of said staircase was Pacifica, floating in a strange bubble. Now while normally Pacifica would be stationary, it seemed as if she was trying to break out of it.
"Well, look at this." Bill stated, floating his way up the stairs, "Looks like someone is stuck."
But Bill couldn't hear Pacifica through the bubble, she banged on the bubble, as if calling out for help.
Bill rolled his eye, and used his cane to pop the bubble. Out Pacifica came, and she fell to the ground with a thud.
"Thank you… who are you?" Pacifica asked.
"Name's Bill Cipher, glad to meet you." Bill greeted himself, with a tip of his hat.
"Bill.. Cipher? Wait, I think I remember you… from a book somewhere…" Pacifica said, rubbing her temples.
"The journals, am I right? The one Pine Tree has?" Bill asked.
"You mean Dipper?" Pacifica wondered.
"Yeah! His Great Uncle dedicated three books to my work, isn't that neat? I bet he's a real fan, maybe I should send him an autograph!" Bill joked around.
"Wait, so… all of those things in the books, those are the real deal?" Pacifica asked.
"You should know, Llama!" Bill stated, revealing the instances where she was victim to a Golf Ball War and the Haunting.
"Oh, yeah, right… Wait, did you just call me Llama?" Pacifica asked.
"Yeah, Llama." Bill clarified.
"Just call me Pacifica, please…" Pacifica groaned.
"Pacifica? Pretty weird name, but I'm no Demon to judge. Anyway, I'm here to take your body away from you, orders of Preston Northwest!" Bill Cipher explained.
"What? My dad made a deal with a Demon, how?" Pacifica asked.
"Not important. He said that you crossed a line this time, and that this is your punishment. Plus, I get to have control of the town, so that's great for me!" Bill explained.
"Wait! Before you do that, I, um… I didn't want to tell him, but I actually have a different motive for getting on Dipper's good side!" Pacifica lied.
"Listen, pal, I don't think you know how this works-" Bill began to say, but was interrupted.
"If you like Deals so much, how about we make a deal? If I give my father something that he'll LOVE to have, YOU can't get my body! But… if I disappoint him, you can do whatever you want, I guess." Pacifica offered.
"And what did you have in mind? What could you give Preston Northwest something that he can't just buy?" Bill asked.
Pacifica smiled, "Something that holds ultimate power…"
Dipper woke up after a few minutes, and was the first to. He noticed that the Mabel Puppet was floating above the table, looking around.
"P-pacifica?" Dipper called out.
"Yes, it is me, Pazifka! Come and give me a kiss, lover!" A horrible female voice impression came from the Puppet.
"Wait, you're not Pacifica!" Dipper realized.
"Of course I'm not, genius." The Puppet said, slowly falling to reveal Bill Cipher's full Triangular body.
"Wait, Bill? But aren't you controlling Pacifica?" Dipper asked.
"Well, I was, but then the deal got cut off. Turns out my policy of 'Accept All Deals' didn't work out too well." Bill Cipher stated.
"Wait, so that means… It was Pacifica who…" Dipper stated, putting the pieces together.
"Yep. She did it. She stole the Journals to save her young soul from being stolen. Pretty brave, if you ask me." Bill Cipher explained.
"Oh…" Dipper said, sighing dramatically.
Bill was still hovering there, looking over him, "So… Do you want to make a deal?"
Dipper just looked at him with anger, and Bill knew he wasn't wanted anymore.
"Sheesh, alright, kid. Say 'Hi' to Ford for me, will ya?" Bill said, before vanishing from the room.
"Dipper… Dipper, wake up!" Mabel's voice called out, who was shaking him violently.
"Mengh, huh?" Dipper woke up on the couch, it turns out that whole experience with Bill was just in his mind.
"Did you see Pacifica, Dipper?" Mabel asked, "I didn't see anything, I just woke up and you were still asleep."
"I had a dream about this alternate dimension where everyone looked like a monster-like freak! It was awful, just awful. Makes me glad I live in this universe…" Ford explained.
"I… No, I didn't see her. We just need to focus on getting the Journals back." Dipper said, pulling his hat bill over his face.
"Dipper, are you alright?" Mabel asked.
"Yeah, just… I saw it, but… I don't want to talk about Pacifica anymore. I need some time…"
Dipper found the note Pacifica left for him, it seemed like in his hastiness to find good in Pacifica lead him to believe the craziest things. It was true Bill was about to, but it was like what Mabel said… Some people just don't change.
Back at Northwest Manor, Pacifica was being praised for her good work at getting the Journals.
"Pacifica, I don't know why I ever doubted you!" Preston told Pacifica, "You really are a Northwest after all."
"Thank you, Father." Pacifica smiled, bowing politely.
"With this book, we'll be able to have more control over the town than we used to, all we need to do is find them. We could even put that dusty old Mystery Shack to shame, why not the Mystery Mansion?" Preston considered out loud.
"Mystery… Mansion?" Pacifica repeated.
"Indeed. But instead of it being a Tourist Trap, we'll have it like a fine arts museum. Some of these things look very nice indeed… We could even have some of these pages on display!" Preston continued.
"Sounds amazing, I never liked that Pines family anyway." Pacifica stated.
"And why should you like them? Nothing but filthy mongrels, that family completely ruined our Party a few weeks ago with those… Commonfolk." Preston winced upon saying that word.
Pacifica laughed, and as Preston continued on, she headed back to her room.
It was almost exactly as she'd left it, the bed was messy, the window she looked out to see the Mystery shack was still open, and it still glowed so brightly.
"...I'm sorry, Dipper…" Pacifica said, her hand sliding down the window pane.
As Dipper continued to read the note over and over, he failed to realize that there was some writing on the back.
He looked at it, and it read…
"Sorry, Dipper. I didn't want to. But it was the only way I could keep myself from losing my body. I hope you can forgive me, and that one day we can put this all behind us and stay friends."
Dipper's lips trembled, and he shoved his face into his pillow to muffle his tears.