I'm dreaming.
The realization came to Mabel like a sped-up sunrise, and once she knew it, she couldn't remember how it felt not to know it. Hadn't it been obvious, five seconds ago? Hadn't she noticed the way the corner of the rooms blurred and warped, the way she couldn't see herself when she looked down at the floor? She was in a dream, and her mind latched onto that knowledge eagerly. For she was in a dream, and in a dream you could do anything.
"Mabel?"
She turned, and at the sight of her brother's face she nearly forgot she was dreaming.
"D-Dipper?" she whispered, taking a step towards him. He smiled at her, his wings folded behind his back, his arms reaching for her. He wasn't real, she knew. But that didn't mean she wasn't happy to see him. And part of her, a small part, hung onto the hope that he was somehow projecting himself into her dreams—advanced Avem magic that, last Mabel checked, neither of the twins could manage.
She stumbled forward until she was in Dipper's arms. She rested her chin on his shoulder, her eyes level with his red feathers. Strange how real he felt. She was dreaming; she shouldn't be able to feel him so keenly or make out the details of his wings so easily.
"You miss me, don't you?" Dipper asked.
She nodded into his shoulder. If she wasn't dreaming, she'd probably be crying.
"It's okay," Dipper said.
"You're not real," Mabel mumbled.
There was a pause. "No," he agreed. "But it's okay. You'll find me."
Mabel pulled back to look up at his face. He was smiling warmly.
She let out a small laugh. "Thanks, dream Dip."
"You'll find me," he repeated. "Once wE'rE bOtH dEaD aNd GoNe."
His voice warped, and Mabel jumped away. No. No she couldn't have a lucid nightmare, she couldn't—
Dipper's form twisted and burst with static until he had changed into someone entirely new.
"HeY tHeRe ShOoTiNg StAr," said Lilith Crypt, grinning at Mabel with four eyes.
"You!" Mabel shouted. "Where's my brother, demon!"
Lilith laughed, drawing her legs up to sit cross-legged in the air. Her eyes, two black and two orange, were set firmly into the blue skin on her face. "Your brother is here in this dimension, with you. You both went through the same portal, after all." Her voice had multiple layers, but it wasn't as forceful as Lord Cipher's.
"That's not what I meant! Where is he? What happened to him?"
Lilith put two palms out, her other two hands resting on her hips. "Woah there, Shooting Star. Your brother is safe. And happy." She smiled widely before continuing.
"He just happens to be human."
"What?! He's not human! He's avem!"
"Not anymore," Lilith replied. She sounded like an excited child. "Nope nope. Lord Cipher sent me to turn him human, and to tidy up his new life. Pine Tree is a happy little only child, with no wings and no powers. Human."
Mabel stared at the demon in shock, feeling on the verge of tears. This dream body probably wouldn't give her the satisfaction of crying, or of letting her feel the wetness on her cheeks, but it didn't stop the feeling.
Lilith leaned forward, two elbows on her knees, chin on two hands. "He has no idea you exist," she said softly.
Mabel lunged for Lilith, knocking the demon out of the air and to the floor. "You're lying!" she screamed in Lilith's face. "Dipper would never forget me! Never!"
Lilith laughed, her top two eyes closing. She grinned eerily up at Mabel, seeming unperturbed that she was pinned to the ground. "I wiped his memory, child," she said. "Wiped it clean, then refilled it with a false life. This version of your brother is a lonely kid from California, staying with his relatives here in Oregon."
She disappeared from underneath Mabel. The avem scrambled to her feet, looking around wildly. Lilith reappeared, sitting cross-legged in the air again, but this time upside down.
Right in front of Mabel's face.
Mabel shrieked and jumped back. "I'll find him!" she said, her dream heart pounding. "I'll find him, and he'll remember me! I'll show him my wings, tell him about our home!"
Lilith wagged a finger at her. "Bad idea, Shooting Star. He has a weak little human mind now. Humans don't know about magical things like you angels."
"We're not angels!" Mabel retorted. In the back of her mind, she knew Lilith was baiting her, but she couldn't help it. "We don't dare hold ourselves in such high esteem."
"What was that a quote from?" Lilith asked. "The Avem drivel they recite to you at your schools?" Two of her hands found her long blue hair, hanging from her head, and started braiding it absently. She was still floating upside down.
Mabel clenched her fists, but decided not to give Lilith the satisfaction of responding. She could defend the honor of her species another day; for now, she needed to focus on Dipper.
"Anyway," Lilith said, finally flipping back around and setting her feet on the floor. Her hair now rested on her shoulder in a thick, messy braid. "Pine Tree doesn't have a capacity for magic anymore, and if you suddenly ran up to him and told him you were his twin sister with wings, well, he might die of shock. Or worse," she added thoughtfully, "he might reject you."
Mabel paled. She could feel her pulse thumping in her neck, now. This dream body was becoming more and more corporeal.
"Why are you telling me this?" she finally whispered.
Lilith shrugged. "I'm being honest. If there's anything I am, it's honest." She winked with both of her right eyes. "I also wanted to see your reaction. And, believe it or not, I actually am invested in your brother's happiness. After all, seeing the tragic life of an avem reduced to the happy life of a human is quite entertaining. I don't want you appearing in his life and ruining it. But if you do, that'll be its own type of fun."
Mabel watched the demon warily, unsure of how to respond.
"Basically," Lilith said, "you can go ahead and try to find him—"
"I wasn't asking your permission!"
"—but I wouldn't tell him who you really are. Or show him your wings. We wouldn't want the poor dear to be. . . afraid of you, now would we?"
With that, Mabel's weight settled into her body, and it felt completely real. She could feel her feet on the floor, she could feel her wings on her back, she could feel the blood racing throughout her body. The details of the room around her became clearer, and the more she looked, the more real everything felt.
No. No. This was a dream. She was dreaming. Lilith was lying; Dipper would never be afraid of her. She was dreaming.
"Oh, you may be dreaming, Shooting Star," Lilith said, smiling. As she spoke, everything started fading, faster than it had come. Before long, there was only black oblivion, with Lilith's parting words floating in the void:
"BuT wHy oN eArTh ShOuLd ThAt MeAn It'S nOt ReAl?"
~~~~~
The sunlight pressed against Mabel's eyelids, and she moaned, rolling over.
And then nearly fell out of her tree.
She screeched and grabbed at her branch, pulling herself back onto it before she rolled off entirely. Her heart pounding, her body complaining from being startled so strongly, she rested her cheek against the bark, breathing slowly and deeply.
"Maybe. . . ," she said to herself. "Maybe I shouldn't sleep in trees."
After giving herself a moment to recover from the shock of, y'know, nearly falling out of a tree, she sat up and stretched. What time was it, anyway? The sun, still persistently in her eyes, had climbed about halfway up the sky. She had overslept again. She blinked blearily at the sun, then turned away, purple sunspots dancing in her vision.
And in the afterimages, she remembered.
Her dream. Lilith Crypt.
Dipper.