Monster Falls

16: Into the Woods

Stanford looked over at Bill worriedly. He'd been pretty angry, earlier, but that feeling had faded when he saw the former demon's pale skin and laboured breathing. His breathing had gotten slightly better, but Bill had been making very anguished noises in his sleep, and was now crunched up in a ball on Stanford's orange couch, holding his stomach. It wasn't that Ford felt bad...it's just that he did. He knew that if he didn't do anything, Bill would probably have done something fatal to him, but it almost wasn't worth it to see what looked like an innocent man in so much pain.

"St--stanford?" Bill asked wearily, cracking open his eye.

Ford gulped, stepping away from his papers on all fours. "Yes?"

Bill chuckled dryly, shaking his head. "I thought I was dead," he whispered, shuddering. "The--the underworld." Bill squeezed his eye shut. "I--I was being tortured--mocked by people who are supposed to be my--my allies--they told me that I--that I was weak--that I didn't deserve to live an immortal life--that they were taking away my powers--" he looked up at the griffin in front of him, his eye wet with fresh tears. "Stanford you--you're helping me. Why would you do that? What's the gain?"

Stanford sighed, looking down at his front paws. "I--I don't know, Bill. Pity, I guess."

"Thanks," Bill mumbled sarcastically, moaning when he tried to sit up using his arms, but they just gave out on him. "I am weak, aren't I? Hell, I can't even use my arms!"

Ford looked at the demon, noticing something that he hadn't before. His eye, once an unnaturally bright cyan, was now a more normal greyish blue, red veins climbing close to his pupil. He must've lost an enormous amount of power, if not all. "D-do you feel any different?" Stanford asked, rubbing the golden fur on his face.

The former demon shrugged, rubbing his eye. "Tired, weak, fricking emotional." Bill furrowed his brows. "I feel like I'm becoming more human everyday. Scary shit, huh?"

Stanford chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. He wasn't wrong, especially considering the power drain the demon had suffered. Bill was more human now then ever. But was Ford changing too? He had been very...aggressive lately, full-out growling whenever something irritated him. Crap. That was worrying. Very worrying. I better not lose my human side, he thought nervously, staring at his paws. Paws. Paws. If they didn't act fast, he would have paws forever. He'd be a monster forever.

Dipper's eyes were darting all around, pacing around the living room and wincing every time he tripped over his back leg.  Wendy and Soos had gone back home, feeling that they had served their purpose. And with Mabel in their attic bedroom and Stan half-sleeping on the other side of the room, the cervitaur was pretty much alone.

"Stop it, kid, you're making me dizzy," Stan grumbled, nudging the nervous boy with his left wing as he stood up to throw his magazine in the trash. He'd read the thing over billions of times, he could buy a new one.

"I-I'm just thinking about what Great Uncle Ford said. A witch cursed the river? But why? What was her motive?"

Stanley chuckled, sitting back down on the floor. He found the chair a hassle, as he would have to sit in a proper position to accommodate both his wings and tail. The gargoyle had been lying on his stomach a lot lately. "Probably revenge or some other crap. You know witches. Remember my hands?"

Dipper's eyes widened, and his ears followed, standing up straight on top of his head. "Grunkle Stan! You're right! Maybe we should go back to the river and see if we could find anything else relating to that! You up for going out?"

"As long as we bring your sister," Stan said, scratching his cheek. "The kid's a pretty good navigator, with that horn and all."

The boy smiled. "Plus, I know that unicorns are a natural monster repellent,  so we shouldn't get ambushed. And even if we do, we have you, Grunkle Stan."