Happy 10 Year Anniversary of
Gravity Falls

TW: Mention of dead animals

Everything was blurry, bright lights blinding his vision. He didn't recognize where he was and couldn't make out much detail out of what he was able to see. Trying to focus on the smallest of details was causing an awful migraine to form and develop, yet he continued to try and see through the blinding lights and foggy vision in an attempt to see something- anything.

For a moment, through the light, he caught sight of a door. A familiar door. It was a glass door with a red door frame surrounding it. He slowly reached his hand out towards it, grasping onto the silver door handle before going to open the door. As the door was being opened, a ray of sunlight seemed to hit the shiny door handle just perfectly to the point that the sun's rays reflected off just to hit him in the eye and cause his vision to blur once again.

He got to see flashes of images from that point on, nothing too solid like the image of the door had been for him. The next images he saw barely lasted a second. They came and went in a blink of an eye, being too fast for him to actually grasp onto the image and make sense of what he was seeing though he tried his best. He saw countless shelves filled from top to bottom with items, but he could not describe for the life of him what those items had been. He saw multiple people surrounding the area, kind of spread out- but their faces were blurred and their bodies resembled that of an abstract art piece. He continued walking forward, though. At this point he wasn't sure whether he was walking forward on purpose or if he was being controlled like a puppet on its strings.

Nonetheless, forward he marched through the light and fog, trying to reach his destination without knowing what that destination might be. At the same time he felt lost, he also believed this to be all too familiar without knowing why that was the case.

The next flashes showed what appeared to be a desk, all the objects on it very blurred with an abstract body of a person behind it.

Then his vision went white once more. Suddenly the image he had just previously seen was now zoomed in.

White again. This time when the image was shown to him it was zoomed in so close that all he could see was the mouth of the person behind the desk. They were smiling brightly and it felt... warm and welcoming.

White once more. This time the image was zoomed in on their eyes. (E/c) eyes. The image of their eyes wasn't very clear or defined but the color was there, directed on him and him alone

The light and fog clouded his vision once again. This time when the image returned, the person and the desk they were standing behind was gone. He was looking at his feet. The strange thing was: the image was very clear. Sure the edges of his vision were still a bit foggy but the center of the image he was focused on now was very clear to see. His feet were covered by what looked to be red and white converse, the shoelaces very loosely knotted and looking as though they might untie at any moment. He watched his own two feet- were they his own feet?- walk for a good bit before stopping.

His head slowly lifted up, seeing the bottom of a shelf at first before his head continued to raise higher and higher. The items on the shelf were still unrecognizable to him except for one singular item when his head finally lifted high enough to spot it at eye level. Slowly his hand began to reach out towards the object, picking it up and holding it very delicately in his grasp. The words on the small glass jar began to appear much clearer to the point they were readable. On the label of the jar, it read: Sparkling Cinnamon.

In that moment, the familiar scent that he had only recently been introduced to began to fill the air and enter his nostrils. It was such a calming smell that brought him peace and security.

And in that moment, the world around him began to fade away but no longer by the bright white light. Now his vision was being covered by this blanket of darkness that began to circle around him until there was nothing but a black abyss.

And he was left all alone.

~~~

Bill Cipher slowly began to open his eyes, groaning as a strange light was hitting his eye from an odd angle which blinded him for a moment. Glancing over to find the source of the light, he noticed a window that was mostly covered by these two curtains except for the small crack in the middle that it just barely covered. This sliver of a crack caused a beam of sunlight to pass through and somehow successfully land directly on his eye. Just his luck. He huffed, going to sit up with a grunt as his body felt very sore. He tried to recall where he was and what he was doing here but as he began to look around he started to feel at a loss, not recognizing his surroundings in the slightest. Where was he?

The room was pretty dark so he couldn't make out much detail- but then his eyes landed on something familiar. The small light that he saw through the store window was there! Though now he recognized this small light to be a simple candle that someone had lit and placed out. He took a deep breath, recognizing it to be the same scent from the one at the shack. He then began to ask the question if he was still at the shack. He didn't see a bunch of shelves like he had when he first walked into the shack. Maybe it was too dark to see them? Or maybe he was in another room?

Bill suddenly jumped when he heard what sounded like an object falling onto the floor followed by someone muttering under their breath. He turned towards the direction he heard the noise and found himself looking at an open doorway with no door seeming to be attached to it. Just an opening in the wall. Through the opening, he really couldn't see much except for a bunch of random objects of all shapes and sizes hiding in the darkness as well as some shadowy figure seeming to be moving in said darkness. There were three small lights in there as well, his guess was that they, too, were candles with the same scent as the one he had beside him. From where he sat, the three lights didn't help him see at all who or what was in that other room. Though with these candles being the exact same ones from the shack... he had a small guess on who it was that was in the other room.

"You seem to really like the Sparkling Cinnamon scent."

The figure in the other room stopped whatever it was they were doing, seeming to freeze in place before the head of the figure looked over in his direction and their body seemed to relax a bit upon seeing who it was speaking to them.

"Actually? No. I really hate the smell but for some reason I seem to own a lot of this particular scent. Figured I might as well use them up now during the power outage to try and get rid of at least some of them," they shrugged, going to bend down and pick up what they had just dropped previously.

Bill raised a brow but didn't question it as he sat there, noticing his eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness ever so slightly.

"...What happened, exactly? Last thing I remember... we were in the car, I got out because you suddenly stopped the car, and I... ran towards the town line-"

"You mean the town line that you kind of failed to cross because some weird invisible barrier is seemingly keeping you in whereas everyone else can leave and enter as they please?" the stranger interrupted, causing Bill to instantly stop talking and look up towards them with wide eyes.

So it was true then... he really was stuck here. He was stuck in some random small town in the middle of nowhere once again with no way of knowing how he could possibly escape so long as the barrier remained standing. Bill could have sworn the world was spinning as he sat there, having trouble getting himself to accept that he came back to life only to be a prisoner all over again.

"Woah- hey! Hey, Bill!"

The dream demon hadn't even realized the stranger had walked over to him until suddenly they were grasping his arms and holding him upright, their (e/c) eyes locked on him with this look of slight concern.

"Come on, Bill, snap out of it. I don't need you fainting again. You're lucky you're so light and easy to drag but that does not mean I'm going to keep dragging you around every time you decide it's a good time to suddenly go limp and pass out at random," they spoke sternly, shaking him slightly which got his attention.

He looked up at them before he gritted his teeth and shoved them off of him, not realizing how much energy that just took out of him to do such a small action. "Don't... touch me. I do not need your... sympathy..."

The stranger stared down at him for a moment before they suddenly burst into a fit of laughter, holding their side. "Sympathy? For you? Honey, I would have to actually care about you first to give you any kind of sympathy." They walked over towards the second couch within the room as the first couch was currently being occupied by Bill, taking a seat on the separate couch and folding their legs before looking towards the blond with a stern expression that Bill couldn't exactly see through the darkness. "I really don't care for you at all. Honestly, I don't. I only care about two things in this world: myself and my town. And with your presence in this town, I see it as a possible threat to both of those things in which I care about. I really thought you were just some psycho when you started babbling about being some sort of demon. But between the dead, decomposed animals and the fact this town literally won't let you leave and escape into the world... I'm starting to think you're actually telling the truth. That you are really a... demon or something."

"Well no duh," Bill rolled his eyes, leaning back against the couch and folding his arms. "Is there a point to this monologue? I think I might just pass back out just so I don't have to keep listening to you."

"I'm getting to it," they hissed, sitting forward a bit as they glared at Bill even if he couldn't see them doing it. "My point is: You want out. I want you out. And I don't want any harm to come to this town or the people in it by your hand. So here's my proposal: I help you find a way to leave Mercy and escape into the world to do- whatever it is you want to do, and in exchange you stay by my side and don't cause any trouble. I can provide you with shelter, food, and money up until you are able to leave. All you have to do is not go around killing people or destroying everything in your sight. My town remains safe, you get all the nutrients and security you need, and eventually we both find a way to rid ourselves from each other so we never have to see one another again."

Bill stared at them with wide eyes, very intrigued by the words that had spilled from their mouth. This almost sounded like they were trying to make a deal with him. Is that what was happening here? Was this strange, idiotic townsperson wanting to make a deal with him? It was very odd, to say the least. Usually he was the one forming the deals but this most definitely caused his curiosity to spike. They seemed to be very aware of the fact that he was a demon of sorts and yet they still had the guts to make a deal with him. Oh he was absolutely adoring this. Sure this deal was keeping him from causing weirdness and destruction to spread across this small town during his stay here, but in return they'd be helping him to escape. They'd be helping him figure out what it is that is holding this particular barrier up, and once they figured out a way to take it down he would be free. It sounded great for him- minus the part where this human thinks they can reel him in and keep him from doing whatever he wanted in this town.

"I must admit, I'm impressed. I wasn't expecting this- how long had I been out for you to think this all through? Doesn't matter, actually. I don't care. But I do like your spunk, kid. Which is why I'm almost tempted to accept this offer of yours. But see, here's the thing... do you really think you can control me and my actions? That's real cute. You recall you're speaking to a literal demon, don't you? What's stopping me from doing whatever I want? You're nothing but a simple, pathetic meatsack."

"Well for one: You would lose the help that you clearly need to get yourself out of this town."

"I can find help elsewhere."

"Really? Who else is going to want to help some psycho that claims to be a demon? They'll send you right over to the nearest asylum. I nearly did. And if they do figure it out, that you are a demon, they'll more than likely call up some government agents and have them deal with you."

"...Why is it that you aren't doing that yourself?"

"I don't trust them. Simple as that. Which is sad that I'm trusting a literal spawn from hell more than I trust our own government. But I still haven't even gotten to my second point as to why you should take this deal and listen to me."

"Oh~? And what's that?"

The figure stood up, walking over to him before roughly grabbing hold of his arm and ripping off something that he hadn't even realized was even on his arm at first. It really hurt though when it was being ripped off so suddenly, however, which caused him to scream out and try to tug his arm away but they still held it firmly.

"When you fell earlier, I noticed your arm was really sticky when I grabbed it. Turns out when you fell you scraped it so badly that some blood spilled. You can go on bragging all you want about how you're some powerful demon- but now I know that it's pretty easy to make you bleed. So break this deal of ours, and I will gladly break you and watch as you bleed out. Trust me, Bill Cipher, I can either be your greatest ally or I can be your worst enemy. It's up to you how you want this to go."

The stranger stood up, releasing his arm and taking a step back to give the demon some space and a moment to think. Bill had to admit: he liked their passion and determination over this situation. It reminded him a bit of himself and how he would set the deal on the table while making sure his victim felt helpless like they had no other choice but to accept his deal. And this stranger was really good at doing just that, making him think that this townsperson was his only hope of getting out of here and he had no choice but to listen to their words unless he wanted his newly reincarnated life to be over with already.

Just their spunk alone, though, made him think: why not? He was curious to see how this would play out if he accepted the deal. It could be interesting, and if anything it would at least give him a place to stay until he did successfully escape this town. This way he wouldn't have to go and threaten someone to give him some shelter. Would he need food? Maybe since he was a human now he might have to eat and sleep like one. But at least this human would be providing that for him as well if he accepted the deal.

"So, Bill, what's it gonna be?" they asked, looking down at him.

A slow grin began to spread across Bill's face as he extended his arm out and offered his hand to shake. "It's a deal~"

They hesitated for a moment before going to reach out and grab his hand, shaking it like they just signed off on some business deal or something. This was the first time Bill made a deal and the blue flames didn't spread across their hands, however. It was rather strange not to see it. Why weren't the blue flames there...? Was this a side effect of being human? His other powers were still there inside of him, were they not? There were so many questions filling his head now.

The stranger awkwardly pulled their hand away once they felt as though they had been shaking hands for far too long. They looked back over towards the open doorway and sighed. "Well, it's 6 am. I'm tired. I'm going to finish emptying my fridge of any dairy products and anything else that went bad during the power outage that is... still happening. And then I'm gonna go and sleep."

"What- I thought you were helping me figure out how to leave this place, are you not?!"

"I plan to help you, yes. But after I get some sleep. I'm tired, Bill. And honestly you look like you could use some rest, too."

The stranger continued into their kitchen while Bill remained seated on the couch in the living room. He hummed in thought, looking around the room as he noticed his vision was a bit better now after having been staring into the darkness for so long. He could see the other couch that the stranger had just been seated in as well as the tv that appeared to be seated on some sort of small, wooden dresser or table of some kind- he couldn't really tell. A tv stand with two drawers, that's what it was. There was a shelf on either side of the tv that was filled with a bunch of items he couldn't make out but he could tell those shelves were filled. With all these small details he was making out, he came to the conclusion that he must be in someone's living room. More than likely it was this stranger's living room.

After some time, the sounds within the kitchen had finally stopped and the stranger emerged from the opening back into the living room. They stopped in their tracks, looking around before looking over at Bill.

"I'm gonna head to bed now. Don't touch anything- better yet, don't move from that spot. At all," they quickly informed before walking over to what appeared to be a staircase that Bill hadn't noticed up until now.

"What's your name?"

They paused, looking back over their shoulder to glance over at Bill questionably. "...What?"

"Well I introduced myself to you, I find it only fair that I get to know the name of the one whom I shall be staying with temporarily. Otherwise I'm just going to have to come up with a nickname for you so I can at least call you by something."

They took another long pause to think it over, debating on whether they actually wanted to share that information with the demon or not. In the end, they cleared their throat before only revealing to Bill Cipher their first name:

"Y/n."

With that, Y/n turned around and made their way up the staircase to the point they were no longer in Bill's line of sight.

Bill Cipher waited until they were out of view before glancing around, looking for the exit. He wasn't planning to leave right this second. Reason one being that he was interested to see what would happen if they stayed with this stranger known as "Y/n" now. The second reason he wasn't getting up and making a run for it was because he physically couldn't even if he wanted to. His body was so drained and so sore that he couldn't get himself to stand up, he already tried. But he spotted what he believed to be the front door, this door being on his right while the opening to the kitchen remained on his left. The television sat in front of him whereas the stairs sat directly behind the couch he was sitting on. At least he now had a vague idea of his surroundings which he believed to be good enough.

Bill Cipher then went on to lay back down, staring up at the ceiling with droopy eyes. Falling back asleep wasn't such a bad idea... if it weren't for the fact that the sun that was just starting to rise was still directly hitting his eyes. Groaning in annoyance, he turned to lay on his side facing away from the window. He then closed his eyes, his body quick to accept the resting position before beginning to shut down. It wasn't long before the dream demon had fallen back asleep.

L olnh brxu vsxqn, nlg. Lw'v d ghdo.

Chapter 5: Sunday, June 26th, 2022