Chapter Text
Dipper is falling. He’s been falling for quite some time. He gave up counting the seconds around 872, mostly because it was getting very boring. Secondly, because he wasn’t even sure he was counting the seconds right in the first place. Third, and most importantly, was because he lost track. But- shut up okay?!
There’s been nothing but darkness around him, no flickers of light, no break from the endless sea all around him. At least he can see what he vaguely can make out to be his hands, and therefore the rest of his body. Which meant there had to be some kind of light source somewhere, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to see anything; human eyes weren’t made for night vision. It keeps his mind occupied, trying to find the source of the light. Maybe it’s too dim for him to make out? But that wouldn’t make any sense, if it was upon the spectrum humans couldn’t see then he shouldn’t be able to see his hands, right? None of this was making any sort of sense, but then again what did make sense nowadays?
The feeling of falling doesn’t bug him as much anymore. Yes, at first, his body was freaking out along with his mind, but now? It’s just kind of weird. His body knows he’s falling and is trying to catch itself in the air, but surprise surprise, there’s nothing to catch himself on.
Dipper doesn’t want to close his eyes and lose all sense of direction, but he’s exhausted . This is the most relaxed he’s been throughout this entire experience. Nothing after him, nobody crowding him, no obnoxious noise filler, just himself. It’s nice to turn your brain off, every now and again, and right now? Dipper thinks he deserves it. Scratch that, he DOES deserve it! No if, ands, or buts about it! He's been going through hell!
He deserves to relax, to be calm, to rest-
CRUNCH .
Pinetree hits the floor like a sack of bricks. Which, funny enough, the floor is made of bricks. His impact was so devastatingly hard he’d managed to create a small crater of impact. And probably break all the bones in his body. Or just his ribs. Hopefully just his ribs.
Dipper breathes quickly, unable to get a proper deep breath in. Oh, he definitely broke most, if not all of his ribs. It doesn’t feel like either of his lungs has been punctured at least. Or his heart. So there’s that bright side. But he is in so, so much pain. Get up , he urges himself, shakily pushing himself over onto his back. How his spine isn’t broken, or his skull caved in-? Pure miracles. Gotta love ‘em. The ceiling is far, far above him, walls sloping in; everything is composed of the same dark brick material from what Pinetree can see. Something about it sets off a few bells in his head, but what ? What is so familiar about this? Why are bricks of all things familiar and giving him the creeps?
Dipper doesn’t bother trying to calculate the time he spends laying on the floor catching his breath and regaining strength. There’s no point in it, and he’s not wasting energy on the task of timing things. When he does finally manage to get to his feet, he wraps an arm around his torso, curling into himself and leaning against the wall for support. One foot in front of the other. That’s not so hard, right? With each step, the feeling of deja vu only gets stronger and stronger, within these winding halls of this structure; which has to be pretty massive. Seriously, how is he not dead?
Not that he wants to be, because he doesn’t! But the odds of him being still alive and going-? Probably crazy!
The further he gets twisted into this maze the feeling of deja vu gets heavier and heavier. But he still can’t place it, not until it’s far too late. Dipper arrives into a wide main chamber, evident by the sheer space allotted and massive pillars supporting the structure.
“Oh no.” He whispers, staring at the space reserved for what he knows is supposed to be a throne. A throne made of frozen statues of people. This place was the Fearamid, of course; how could he have been so blind to it before?
He might have thrown up, things got… funny. Weird. The normal for this place, but not for Dipper. He’s clearly still in the Fearamid, but it’s been rearranged and contorted. He’s upon some podium, far above the ground with a light shining down upon him like some kind of stage performer. There’s no way to get down, not without breaking even more bones within his body. He settles for sitting, not trusting his balance if he’s being honest with himself.
Snap .
Another spotlight appears, weaving its way across the floor to illuminate another podium. Albeit the other podium looks more like a stand for a game show, for a host to stand behind. Dipper’s stomach sinks.
“This can’t be happening.” He sputters.
“Oh, but it CAN!” Cackles a far too familiar voice, making every hair on his body stand on end and his chest tighten. The spotlight swivels around the pyramid before landing back on the podium, now occupied by a figure.
Dipper stares, eyes wide. The words simply don’t want to come out, in disbelief. It’s Seeker. He’s all patched up, fixed, yet so, so wrong. His eyes gleam with the same yellow and slit pupils as his own did on that fateful day, a smile stretched too far wide for his face, teeth looking far too numerous and sharp. The nails upon his hands are no longer perfectly manicured, but long and clawed much like the talons of his bird form. The clothes upon his body are still stained with his blood, but there’s no indication that Seeker had been injured at all but for the blotches.
“This isn’t real.” Dipper decides as calmly and rationally as he can muster. This has to be another trick, by that thing. What had Seeker said? Ignore it? Well, he’d just have to do that. So he closes his eyes, covering his face with his hands.
“HEY! None of that!” The demon wearing Seeker’s skin snarls, and Dipper's hands are ripped from his face, eyes sprung open by an unknown force. He groans, trying to look anywhere else but at it .
“Now, you and me, Pinetree- we’re gonna play a game!” It grins with a soft laughter bubbling within its chest, humming softly afterwards. “Fun for the whole family!”
“No.” Dipper says through closed teeth.
“Sorry, what was that?” It asks casually, smirking.
“I said no- I’m- I’m not playing any games.”
It just continues to smirk lazily at him, looking bored of Dipper already; examining its talons. “You think you still have a choice, that’s funny!”
“Where is Seeker? Stop- stop wearing him.” Dipper insists, rage boiling underneath. “You’re sick.”
It snorts.
“Wearing him? Wearing him ? Oh this is going to be more fun than I thought…” It leans upon its podium, beaming.
“Let’s start with question one! It’s a real easy one for you, kid!” It snaps its fingers, pointing at him with a finger gun gesture.
“Question one! What’s my name?” A brow arches as the question is posed.
Dipper frowns, gritting his teeth.
“Trick question. I never learned what you are, or if you have a name, nothing like that!”
It leans further over its podium, smirk fading away into a neutral look. Then it slams its hand down, smacking the podium creating a loud crack.
“ EERRRRRRRRHHH! ” It mimics a buzzer.
“WRONG! Aren’t you supposed to be the smart one?! Oh who am I kidding, you’re not the smart one; psh! You’re nothing but a shadow trying to step into the light only to get burned! A desperate little insignificant bug under everyone’s shoes!” Its lips split into a grin once more, showcasing its unnerving amount of pointed teeth. The eyes flash. “You gotta be playing me, Pinetree. Use that puny little broken brain of yours.” A tongue flicks out from between the fangs. Forked, long, like a snake; it’s only out for a second before retreating back.
Steeling himself, Dipper crosses his arms and squeezes his biceps. Mouth lightly sealed shut. He wouldn’t play this game, he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t let this thing win.
It looks more irritated than it had been a minute ago by the silent treatment, which Dipper smirks; a wins a win. Pissing it off may not be the best idea but he wouldn’t be a toy for it anymore.
Its gaze continues to linger, solely focused on Dipper and nowhere else. (It hasn’t blinked once this entire time.)
“You’re really starting to piss me off. Not that I’m not already pissed off at you, because believe me Pinetree, I am.” It drawls out, the ghost of a smile gracing its features. “Answer the damn question. Last warning!” It says in a sing-song tone, humming softly while examining its nails again.
Expectantly, Dipper stays quiet.
A pause passes by, before it huffs and cracks its knuckles, neck, spine and much more.
“Okay! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!” It laughs. Hands and arms grow from the podium, grabbing onto Dipper harshly, wrapping themselves around his body and lifting him up. His sneakers just barely scrape the stone now, as he flails and kicks with panic. Then they start to squeeze, and he can’t keep quiet anymore. He shrieks in agony, the pressure increase on his already broken and battered body too much to bear.
Shrieking, ear piercing laughter echoes throughout the room, slowly tapering off into giggles before it speaks again.
“Now, what’s my name?” It says with a feverish grin, practically buzzing. Like it was struggling to keep the skin it had draped over on.
“I don’t know- I don’t know- for god's sake-!” Dipper says with heavy, harsh, exhales. “Stop, stop it! Stop!” He shrieks, but the pressure only increases. He feels something else snap within him. “FUCK!” He can’t help but scream out, tears rolling down his face.
“Yes you do! You know! Come on, use your context clues.” It reaches up and pulls Seeker’s eyelids down, exposing his eye further.
“Pretty big hint here Pinetree!”
“FINE! FINE !” Dipper babbles, body heaving with the force of his sobs.
“…Bill-.. Bill Cipher.”
“ DING DING DING !” It- Bill, apparently- screams with a crazed smile upon the face he wears.
“WE HAVE A WINNER FOLKS!” The demon gestures to an audience that simply doesn't exist. There’s nothing but empty space. It’s just the two of them together.
“CONGRATULATIONS PINETREE! Only took a little pain to finally get that shriveled little raisin up there-” He taps his temple. “-to start working.” Bill snorts. The body he wears is shivering. Vibrating so badly he’s nearly out of focus in Dipper’s eyes.
“SECOND QUESTION!” Cipher barks, making Dipper flinch.
“How did you kill me?” Bill croons, leaning forwards.
“M-Memory gun!”
“ EERRRRRRRRHHH! WRONG!”
“W-what?! No it isn’t!” Dipper gasps, crying out once more as the limbs constrict him. “That’s correct! It is!” He shrieks.
“Nope! It’s wrong , Pinetree! Wrong wrong wrong~!” Cipher replies in an amused tone. “I’ll answer this one for you, because I know you’ll never get it right.”
“Then why did you even ask ?!”
“The correct answer is; YOU DIDN’T !” He barks and collapses into a fit of laughter. “You didn’t kill me! Come on, you really think I died?! You’re stupider than a single celled microbe!” Dipper feels all the heat leave his body, lip trembling. That couldn’t be true. It couldn’t be; there wasn’t any way he survived being erased, it just wasn’t possible. He isn’t given anymore time to think or wonder, as he’s practically being strangled to death right about now. Dipper’s brain can’t focus on two things at once right now, it’s impossible.
Gasping for air, Dipper shakes and sobs. Cipher is still shrieking with laughter, rolling on the floor of his podium. Eventually the demon settles, wiping tears from his eyes.
“Oh, oh-! That’s rich-!” He chuckles, pulling himself to his feet. He’s still vibrating incredibly hard, making everything just feel more and more uncomfortable. Dipper feels nauseous- maybe from the lack of air, the pain or just the situation in general.
“Question three!” Bill yells. Dipper watches the demon puppet Seeker’s body to stand, leaning hard. Something cracks, but it isn’t from his own body; it’s from Seeker’s. Pinetree watches in terror as Seeker’s skin bulges and throbs, like a parasite had worked its way quite literally under his skin. It’s disgusting. Cipher continues, unbothered.
“What happens when a vessel can no longer contain its magic?”
Another crack, a squelch, the sound of carnage. Seeker’s body twists and contorts in ways far from normal, eyes gleaming brightly. His lower jaw opens, larger and larger and larger, until the skin of his cheeks begins to rip and tear from the force. Good god, it looks like half his face is sloughing off. Blood gushes and pours from the rips in the muscle, snapping the sinewy material apart. Something is forcing its way out through Seeker’s mouth, but it’s far too large. It’s wrong, it’s wrong, it’s so wrong-! There must’ve been some kind of pressure building up, because one of Seeker’s eyes pops from its socket, hanging down upon his face. The other one follows suit shortly after, and god, Dipper can’t keep the bile from building up in his throat and spilling from his mouth onto the stone beneath him.
“ I’LL GIVE YOU A HINT .” Cipher’s voice echos out, far too loud. Dipper’s ears ache and his head pounds, watching in horror.
Seeker’s jaw completely falls off, hitting the ground with an unsettling wet thunk. There’s practically an ocean of blood under the demon. A seam spreads down the front of Seeker’s body, pulling apart to expose his shattered ribs and ripped organs which spill out to hollow his body for what really is taking up residency.
In a twisted way, it’s beautiful. Like watching a butterfly emerge from a cocoon. A form slowly slithers out, doubling in size, tripling; the smell of ozone and copper hits Dipper like a tidal wave, presumably because the gigantic demonic ‘butterfly’ is covered in blood and viscera. Slowly it unfurls, with Seeker’s form hanging limply off its long, long, long neck. Which are made from triangles, bright red and pulsing with energy, separated by short segments of feathered flesh… of which have mouths, gnashing their fangs. Arms and hands twist out from the mouths, made of energy. They glow bright yellow, twisting around the triangles and holding them as if they were the only things keeping this form together. It clicks slowly; the body attached to the neck is one of a bird, with massive wings in a deep red color. Legs swoop down to steady itself, shaking the room with every little step. They’re made of pure energy, yellow and bright; funny enough, they don’t have talons but cloven hooves. The tail is made up of the same triangles of the neck and has the same energy arms too, coiling out until ending with a tetrahedron, split down the middle to make a wicked mouth full of razor sharp uneven teeth. No eyes adorn its surface; that pleasure belongs to the head, another tetrahedron with uneven jagged teeth poking out from the underbite it possesses. There’s only one eye, on one of the sides; it’s long and oblong, black with a pinprick yellow slit of a pupil. Serpentine tongues dart in and out of every mouth, tasting the air. It rises to its full height, Dipper must be an ant to it. It shakes out its feathers, blood flying everywhere. Pinetree gets splattered head to toe.
The bird- no, it doesn’t feel correct to call it that- the phoenix stares down at Dipper, making his heart stop for a moment. Then it untucks its wings, spreading them out to their full glorious spread. It shrieks harmoniously, tossing its head up before focusing back on Dipper.
“ THE VESSEL BREAKS. ” The Phoenix, Bill Cipher, purrs.