Misguided Adventures and Magical Attachments (Completed)

Chapter 11

"A . . . cipher?" Dipper blinked, holding the offering like a gift from the heavens. He wasn't sure he could be more pleased if Bill had directly answered him. The boy absolutely loved decoding messages, after all. His mind already went to work to figure it out, the ordering of letters in the sentence already appearing familiar. The chess game was well out of his interest at the moment. "How long do I have to solve it?"

Bill shrugged. "I don't care. Decode it whenever you want. I'm not giving you a time limit. I will not say anything else about the topic though. All you get is that hint. The rest is up to time and destiny." Bill shut up after that. It was clear that he would not give Dipper more answers than that.

"Alright," Dipper agreed, nodding once. It would have to do. Pulling up two lists of the alphabet, he did what he usually did, creating a simple cipher wheel. This one was glowing and moved in the air, though, one of the perks of dreaming. If it was Caesar then he'd be able to solve it this way. He started, moving one letter back. "UVCP . . ." he muttered, frowning. The boy knew that that wasn't it and tried again. "TUBO JT . . . What? That's not it, either."

"Third time's a charm!" Bill said in a sing-song voice, indiscreetly giving him yet another clue.

The brunet lifted a curious eyebrow, smiling. He had the wheel move three letters back. "STAN . . ." Dipper's breath caught at that, a frantic shock speeding over his features. "Wait, STAN? It can't be Grunkle Stan, can it?" He quickly decoded the rest of the message. "STAN IS NOT WHAT HE SEEMS. Not . . . that's . . ."

"Yay! You decoded it! Congratulations." Bill cheered and clapped his hands, but did not say anything about the code and what it meant.

The boy scanned his eyes over the words one more time, the translation a shock even after reading it again. "W-what . . . Why are you telling me about Grunkle Stan? Is he the Author? How . . ."

Bill stayed silent, letting the boy think things through and refusing to answer his questions. "Think things through, Pine Tree. It's almost morning and you will be waking up soon. I'll see you later, kid." And with that Bill disappeared.

"Hey! Bill . . ." Dipper frowned, a little disappointed. He hardly spends any time with me before having to go . . . The brunet's eyes darted to the chess board. He didn't even get the chance to really play me. It's not like him to turn down the opportunity of winning a game. And he could just hold me in this dream if he wanted to. Dipper's heart clenched, slightly hurt by the dream demon. His earlier concerns had slipped his mind for the while. What if Bill doesn't think I'm fun anymore?

Bill had only left the dream, not really Dipper's mind. He paused for a minute, listening to Dipper's echoing thoughts. What if Bill doesn't think I'm fun anymore? Bill blinked as he listened. The kid cared for him that much? Perhaps then Dipper would be on Bill's side when the day finally came . . . at least the demon hoped. If Pine Tree is on my side for the apocalypse then I won't have to worry about the betrayal and heartbreak, he mused. It's Stanford all over again. I have to get it right this time. Even if it means being all lovey-dovey to the kid. Bill reappeared back into Dipper's dreams, wanting to finish the game at least.

The twelve year-old's blurring brown eyes brightened instantly with the triangle's return. Relief flooded his senses as he allowed a hopeful smile on his features. "B-bill? You came back? I thought you had to go . . ."

"I changed my mind. Wanna finish that game?" The demon sat back down in the floating chair.

He thought he might cry from joy. "Y-yeah," Dipper nodded. "It's your turn, I think."

Bill looked at board carefully, making his move. "Sorry I left without finishing the game. I just thought you needed some time to think about the code I gave you."