Warning! Light-ish swearing! Enjoy peoples!
It was a day like most; it started with a sunrise and chirping birds. The occasional gnome or two fighting for one of Lazy Susan's fresh pies. It was as normal the backwater town of Gravity Falls, Oregon could get.
But unfortunately it all went down hill for Dipper the moment he woke up.
Dipper had always been sort of an introvert. He had friends, of course, but he'd usually like to stick to the creepy woods of Gravity Falls that, for whatever reason, he loved more than almost anything else. So, as any forest lover would do, Dipper woke up early in the morning to go out into the southwest side of the forest. The southwest forest went past Gravity Falls and connects with the neighboring town, Boring Oregon. Because of that connection Dipper often stayed away, due to fear of trespassing, and because he had never really thought about going there before.
Journal in hand and a backpack slung on his shoulders, Dipper was ready to head out into the unknown part of the forest. Once he was outside, he headed into the forest to start his adventure. Along the way Dipper couldn't help but let his thoughts about more supernatural beings wander. Would Boring have new and uncanny creatures? Before, he had been doubtful about such things, but then he remembered how normal Gravity Falls had seemed, and the idea didn't seem so far-fetched. If they did, though, would they be the same? Or, would they be different? With all of these thoughts and more whirling in Dippers head, he barely even noticed when the birds stopped chirping and the paranormal went silent. No gnome, pixie or even the pterodactyl made a noise here in the little clearing that Dipper stumbled upon.
It seemed as if the whole universe knew of the chaos of which the clearing held. There in the middle of the clearing was a stone statue draped with lichen and loose vines. A sense of dread washed over Dipper as he took in the shape of the statue, an all-too familiar triangle. He tried to force the feeling down.
"Huh, so that's where you've been," Dipper muttered, walking towards the stone Bill with somewhat shaky steps. He entered the small glade, setting his journal on the grass in front of the stone figure. Without any thought Dipper subconsciously pulled down some of the vines, hearing them come off with a quiet tear. He threw them to the grass besides him and traced the outline of the statue's 'eye' with his finger.
He took a single step backwards, his gaze turning to stare at the statue's outstretched hand. Some foreign thought had entered his mind, telling him to shake its hand. The more he tried to ignore that thought, the more he found he couldn't. With almost every part of his mind screaming at him to not do what he was about to do, Dipper extended his own arm, closing his hand around the statue's. Time seemed to slow down, and he could hear the sound of a tiny crack... and another.
Suddenly, there was a blinding white light that caused Dipper to fall backwards from his spot on his heels with a quick yelp. He shielded his eyes from the light with his arms, wincing under the unbearable brightness.
The light faded.
And a voice that made Dipper's blood run cold took its place.
"Ah, Gravity Falls it is good to be back!~ But, out of all the meatsacks in the world, Pine Tree here would be the one to free me? Ha, what a twist!" Floating in mid-air was the same demon that Dipper had last seen in the summer of 2012. The same demon that had caused an entire apocalypse. The same demon which had been turned to stone...
...the same demon Dipper had just released.
For what seemed like an eternity to the nineteen-year old, Dipper raced to find something, anything to say to express what was going through his head, eventually settling on a whispered,"Oh, shit."
After regaining at least some of his composure, though, he muttered, "So, n-not a good day." He stood up with shaking limbs and stared wide-eyed at the demon floating in the air in front of him.
Swallowing back his fear and alarm once more, he yelled out to the demon with a panicked tone. "H-how are you not stone?! This is... no, this can't be real!"
"Hate to break it to ya, but you're wrong, this is reality," Bill chirped, shrugging his not-shoulders. "I can tell ya this Pine Tree, you're the stupidest meatsack I've ever had the chance to met. And that's saying something, I knew a lot of stupid humans," he stated matter-of-factly.
"Did the Cipher Wheel not do what it's supposed to? Maybe we got the symbols and people wrong," he muttered, walking in a circle back and forth. This went on for a couple of minutes before the demon got fed up. He snapped his fingers and a piece of duct tape was covering Dipper's mouth.
"Maybe we said the words wro-" He was cut off by said tape, ending with a muffled, "Hmph!" He tried to yell at Bill through the covering but evidently failed.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you!" Bill teased, putting a hand to one side of his, well, you couldn't call it a face really...
"Hhm hhmmm!" Bill knew exactly what he was saying, he could read minds after all! Dipper was now pulling at the edges of the tape, trying to take it off and failing by the looks of it.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Pine Tree." The demon warned.
"Hhm-m?" Why not? he had asked it in his mind as well.
"I mean, if you want to rip your lips off, be my guest! Bill laughed.
There was clear frustration in Dipper's eyes, and now the boy was currently screaming in his head at Bill to take off the piece of tape, making angry gestures at him in the meanwhile.
BILL! Take this piece of fuc- he couldn't even finish his sentence in his mind. The demon cut him off, again, as he snapped his fingers once more before the boy could finish.
"You're no fun, Pine Tree!" Bill whined.
"I'm not here for fun, and I assume neither are you," he gasped at first, catching his breath with a small cough at the end. It wasn't like he couldn't breathe through his nose, but it did restrict the amount of oxygen he'd been getting.
"You're correct!" He snapped his fingers once again, and a chair appeared in a cloud of smoke. "I wanna make a deal."
"I figured that. What do you want, I'm sure I can find out another way to turn you back into stone..."
"You know that barrier around Gravity Falls?" Dipper didn't get a chance to respond, as he was already continuing, "Ya, well this dell has another barrier that I can't get through in this form."
"What do you mean by, 'can't get through in this form'?" Dipper questioned, watching him skeptically.
"What I mean is, I made a deal with another demon, where, once I 'die', I need to take on a new form to keep being 'alive'," Bill replied, waving his hand and twirling his cane in the air while he spoke.
"Wait... demons can make deals... with other demons?"
"Well, duh, Pine Tree. How do you think people turn into demons?" Bill asked rhetorically with a roll of his eye.
"We-"
"I need to make a deal with you, so no more small talk," Bill interrupted, cutting him off for what seemed like the hundredth time for Dipper.
"My offer will only last until midnight, so you better know what your tiny flesh brain wants." The floating demon told him in a mocking tone. His eye the flashed to a clock tower pointing to the number twelve.
"Why midnight?" Dipper asked, confused.
"That's for me to know, and for you to never find out." As if that would stop Dipper. He was an inquisitive person after all.
"I want to know exactly what you want, Cipher."
"Well, it's simple really. Like I said, I want out of this clearing." Bill was tapping the top of his cane with his index finger. He seemed to be getting annoyed. Good, Dipper thought.
"What else do you want?"
"I need to get into my vessel, but I can't inhabit it with my current form. So, I need to get out of this form."
"How do you do that? Why do you need me?"
"Really, Pine Tree? Now you're just being annoying. Deal or no deal?" He put his hand out as it burst into cobalt blue flames.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I don't even know what I get out of it!" Dipper exclaimed, putting his arms out like a child would do if they didn't get what they wanted. Bill rolled his eye.
"Well, what do ya want, kid?"
"Uhmm." Dipper honestly din't know. If the events of the last time he made a deal with Bill were anything to judge by, he had to be clear on what the terms were. He looked around the glade until he spotted his journal. Mabel had got him the navy book for his sixteenth birthday, saying he needed to stop drawing in his textbooks. The book had a hard cover like the old journals, but instead of a hand, it had a silver pine tree in the middle with a black-painted one on it. This may be one of the most stupid ideas Dipper's ever had, but he really needed more knowledge of the strange and uncanny beings...
"I want you to share your knowledge of the paranormal with me." he stated. Bill just floated there for a second.
"Is... is that all?" he asked hopefully. That should be enough for the kid, he thought.
"I assume you'll need a place to stay?" he Dipper questioned knowingly, quirking an eyebrow. "You have to do work at the shack," he continued before Bill could intervene. "And, you have to do whatever me, Mabel, or my great-uncles say." And that smirk was back. Bill didn't know what it was about this kid, but he was very interesting. Yes, interesting, just interesting. "That's all." Finally, Bill thought. He may be mortal right now but that kid would surely work him to death.
"Take the deal now, then?" Bill queried.
"No, I'll think on it. You gave me until midnight, remember?"
"Don't forget," Bill growled, his eye narrowing but with slight desperation. Bill would be in serious demon trouble if Dipper forgot... Bill then floated up little more into the air and practically yelled, tipping his top-hat, "Remember, REALITY'S AN ILLUSION, THE UNIVERSE IS A HOLOGRAM, BUY GOLD! BYE!" And then he left in another flash of bright light. Dipper felt a little woozy once he did, his vision starting to blur, and before he passed out he saw the world fade to black and white.
Sorry if Bill seems too out of character. But, you'll find out why!~ ;)
It took me a long time to edit this so I wasn't able to write down more chapters of D.T.T.W.T.C., sadly. I promise it will be up before Wednesday! 'Till next time! *Kira has left the pack*
(p.s. I don't know why I say I have left the pack tbh, I just do. Kinda like a symbol to say I've left without saying 'bye'. I really don't like saying 'bye'.)