Story is not mine created goes to owner.

The soft sunlight warmed his fur, the grass beneath him was soft and smelled like life itself. Relaxing, his head heavy with the lack of proper sleep, he didn't notice how his ears had begun to slowly fall until they brushed softly against his cheeks. Dipper's eyes shot open from the unexpected touch and a small sound escaped his lips while he quickly tried to blink the soreness from his eyes.

He had been up all night trying to find a cure to this damn curse.

And of course he failed.

Again.

Dipper sighed, rubbing at his pounding head in frustration just to feel his soft brown hair beneath his fingers.

'My hat? Where-'

But the thief was just a few foot before him.

"Gompers!" he exclaimed.

He spotted the goat giving him a blank stare, continuing to chew on his hat as if he found it to be the most delicious thing on the planet. Huffing, Dipper pushed himself to his thin deer legs and started forward, his bloodshot eyes focusing on the animal as he mumbled under his breath.

"Dumb goat, eating whatever's in front of you, I bet you can't even think-"

Before he was near the beast, one of his hind hooves suddenly caught on the Journal laying in the grass where he had been studying before, causing him to trip and land in the dirt, face first. Fortunately, the sudden quick movement of the cervitaur was more than enough to startle Gompers into dropping his meal and leaving to find a quieter place to feed.

Dipper was left behind to push himself back up, rubbing the mud off of his face until he noticed the chewed up hat in front of him.

"Great!" he proclaimed.

He picked up the article of clothing, setting it carefully back on his head between his ears, turning back to the Journal. With a small sigh the half deer folded his legs on the soft grass and reached out for the old book in front of him.

At least he was awake now.

The Journal in his hands felt as heavy as before. The pages greeted him with well known entries. He had read them, all of them. But nothing seemed to be the clue he'd been looking for. A solution to the damage he had caused and to the pain, the guilt, he felt at his core.

Dipper's eyes had started to burn while his ears had flattened as if to emphasise his thoughts. Of course, the damn deer part of him just had to give a visual display of his feelings. Memories of the last few days took over his mind.

Yesterday Mabel's bowl had broken, leaving her to dry on the parlor floor, surrounded by shattered glass and water too shallow to matter. Alone.

Stan had been resting on the porch, or more accurately, he had turned to stone there. No breathing, no heartbeat, no signs of life. As still and as dead as a real statue.

Soos hadn't come to work that day, either. A few minutes in the scorching heat was more than enough to turn the Golem into a puddle on the floor. Even Wendy had called in sick that day and it wouldn't take a genius to figure out the reason, considering the full moon the night before.

What of Dipper, then, the mighty explorer of the mysteries of Gravity Falls? Where was he while his sister was writhing on the floor, desperate and gasping for water?

In the forest, of course!

Once again, only him and his Journal searching out a peaceful place to examine the curse and had it not been for the distant sound of hunters disturbing the tranquility he would never had been forced back to the Shack and he would've been too late.

But he had found her.

Dry, too weak to speak or even to lift her head, voice gone from her yells and screams for help. Her lips which were known for their smile were stretched into a thin line that belied her pain and distress while she sobbed quietly.

Panic had forced him into action as he tried to pick her up, tried to carry her to the bathtub with no success. It would have been impossible for him to lift her up a flight of stairs with her tail as long and as heavy as it was, and with how weak and uncertain his body had become. His legs had buckled when he attempted anyway, desperate.

He stayed with her, bringing bottles of water to pour over her as he screamed for his Grunkle. He had watched his sister's life fade with every passing minute. Until Stan finally woke up.

The Gargoyle ran to their side, lifting up Mabel with ease and hurrying her to the tub.

He would never forget the fear on his Grunkle's face as he cared for the half dead and crying child before him. The steady rush of water calmed her breathing and with every second colour slowly came back to Mabel's face.

They were safe. For now.

Dipper was certain that the curse was going to tear them apart and take much more than just their human forms.

It would take his family's and the town's minds.

It would take their lives.

'All because of me...' Dipper felt a lump settle in his throat.

He needed to end it.

But how? The Journal was useless... so wasn't he useless as well?

What could he do to undo his mistake? What could he do to save the town? To save everyone?

His eyes were burning, the soft plea fading with the wind, not loud enough for even his own ears to hear.

"What am I supposed to do...?"

His desperate whisper didn't stay unheard for too long.

Dipper's silent call into the empty space triggered the appearance of something much worse than the curse of the River.

A sinister and familiar voice entered his thoughts, causing the young cervitaur to jump to his feet in surprise and spin around to face the demon that had emerged behind him

"Well, well, Pine Tree! Still looking to fix your monster of a mistake?" it cackled.

Bill Cipher's eerie grin hovered above his face, forcing Dipper to take in Bill's human appearance. A yellow, tight fitting suit glittered in the midday sun, emitting a warm light that betrayed the cold aura the demon wearing it possessed.

Dipper swallowed and turned his head away from the unwanted party, looking back down at the Journal instead.

"Go away, Bill! I'm not in the mood." he snapped.

The demon, of course, had other things in mind.

With a face plastered in faux hurt he took a step closer to the deertaur, lowering his voice as much as he could to soothe the nerves of his prey.

"Aww, my dear little Pine Tree, would you really want to be so harsh to the one and only being able to offer you a way out of this mess?" Bill almost sounded like he was pouting.

Dipper didn't answer, trying his hardest to ignore Bill's words, but a slight flick of one ear in the monster's direction was more than enough to widen his grin to inhuman levels.

"Isn't that what you want, kid? To stop all this supernatural stuff from happening? To make all your little friends human again so that they can go on with their lives?" he murmured in a velvety tone. "Don't you want your sister to walk on her own two feet again, or for your 'ol Grunkle to feel the warmth of human touch? Don't you want the suffering to end, for all of the pain you caused to stop?"

The demon's words were already racing through Dipper's mind and tugging at his heart. Every fibre of his body scream to say 'yes!', if only so the pain in his gut would stop.

To undo all of this.

Dipper, however, knew better than to trust him. A deal with Bill was never a solution, and neither was it a good idea.

The cervitaur swallowed harshly, the cold wind that picked up was curling through his pelt as he held his answer on the tip of his tongue, avoiding all eye contact with dapper monster.

"I won't make a deal with you. Not now, not ever, not again."

There was a silence between the two for a few seconds until Bill spoke up again, the joy in his voice making him sound leagues more honest than he truly was.

"You should! Because I promise this time I'm going to tell you the truth on both sides of the deal!" he grinned, obviously ecstatic.

Dipper chewed on his lip, shivering when Bill's cold hand reached out for his shoulder, touching it softly while the demon's tender voice brushed his ear in a whisper.

"I promise to change everyone back to their normals old human selves." he paused. "Everyone... but you."

The last part got through to him.

Doubtfully, the little deer boy looked up at the golden bricked face of the demon, meeting a smile too wide to be sincere.

The possibility of a way out of this was enough to mae his voice crack.

"What?"

Bill's smile faltered, with a sigh he shook his head, showing deep sorrow for the kid before him.

"Well, it seems that these are the consequences of the deal, my furry friend. But I'll give all of them their lives back, they could go living as humans again. Doing... doing whatever it is you strange creatures do. "

Dipper could feel his heart in his throat, until it dropped with the next sentence Cipher spoke, remembering his end of the deal, while the demon's eyes looked straight into his own.

"Only you'll stay this way."

The sentence slowly sunk in his mind, his head pounding for the stress of this deal.

Would he really be able to give himself up this easily?

But... it was his fault after all, so bearing the consequences would be the right thing to do, wouldn't it?

And well, at least he didn't need to fear being hunted by one of his friends again.

Of course, a life as a cervitaur wasn't what he had in mind for himself but... he's sure that he'd find a way to make the best of it, right?

At least his family and the rest of the town would be free from the curse.

'I could save them...'

Dippers voice quivered as he spoke up again, he needed to clear his throat before the question was able to leave his dry lips.

"So - I'd be the only one that doesn't change back?"

A little grin made it's way onto the demon's face, his voice honest and firm.

"You'll stay that fluffy little monster you are, stuck in your current deer body, yes."

The half deer hesitated, his words caught in his throat as he was filled with suspicion while he looked at Bill.

"Why? What's in it for you, Cipher, to leave me like this?" he inquired.

The demon just arched an eyebrow and spoke down to the boy with an arrogant tone of voice.

"Well, because I happen to like you that way, Pine Tree! Also, watching you struggle in this form will be enough to entertain me for a while."

Dipper flinched. It was true this part of the deal would be rather uncomfortable. His little deer legs shivered at this thought but still a brave, silent question left his lips while his eyes were observing the grass below him.

"But everyone else will change back, right?"

Bill just rolled his eyes, but repeated himself anyway.

"Promise, all but you."

'All but me...'

Again the thought of being left out, being alone in this mess was sending shivers down his spine, making his tail twitch uncertainly.

However, before fear ate away the last of Dipper's courage, Bill spoke up again, enticing him with a sugary sweet voice.

"But isn't this a small price to pay for you to sleep at night again? All of your guilt and worries coming to an end. All the damage you caused, all the fear and distress you put these poor people through." Bill paused, a wicked grin on his face. "Isn't it a small price to pay for your family?"

With that Bill turned his back to the deertaur, leaving him behind and drowning in guilt that made the demon's spine shiver in excitement. It didn't take long, though, until the kid got back up on his hooves until he looked up to him again with a determined look that put a much more sinister sort of smirk of Cipher's face.

'Brave little Pine Tree, just as expected. You're just too easy to manipulate,' Bill lamented.

Of course, Dipper was left none the wiser to the demon's thoughts as he wiped his face of any maliciousness when he turned around to face to boy once more. The kid's voice was firm and honest, much like his own answers.

"You'll change them back?" Dipper asked.

"Yep!"

"Everyone but me?"

"Yep."

"You're not going to hurt them?"

"I won't, promise!" Bill confirmed.

Dipper hesitated for a second, ears pressed close to his head. He took a deep breath, trying to broaden his small shoulders, determination burning in his eyes as he held out one hand to seal his fate, forming the word that Bill had been waiting for loud and clear.

"Deal."

The monstrous grin spread broad across his triangular face, the human body he was cursed to wear crumbling away like dust until only the demon's original shape was left, freed with the power in the deal.

A lifeless red eye tore deep into Dipper's soul while suddenly their surroundings faded into monochrome. Bill Cipher's voice echoed through the Mindscape from beneath his laughter as he grabbed Dipper's offered hand.

"Deal!"

The word echoed and resonated through Dipper's body and soul until the blue flame that enveloped their clasped hands swallowed them.

The deal was done.