Gravitational Phantoms

Chapter Twelve

Danny was floating. No, that wasn't the right word for it. More like he was chained in place by the air, suspended above the earth. Danny was comfortable here, cool blue energy dancing across his body. Why hadn't he been here before?
It was nice and safe, even if there was a bit of screaming. Wait, screaming?
The ghost boy could hear loud shouts at the edge of his mind, as if somebody were trying to wake him up from a long sleep.
But he wasn't asleep, was he? It felt so real, like being in the Far Frozen.
Suddenly, Danny's entire body erupted into agony. Blue flames curled around him, and the Halfa let out a soundless cry of pain. Then it was over, just as quickly as it began.
"Well, DP. You're a lot stronger than you look." Oh great, the annoying voice from before was back.
But this time, a large white supernova appeared in front of him, and something floated out. Something that Danny didn't know the name of.
It was like a golden triangle, with one slit-pupiled eye closer to the top of its...forehead? (Did triangles have foreheads?) There was a black top hat balanced on the top point, and it was spinning a cane in one of its dark hands. Legs and strange feet dangled beneath it, and one of its hands was on its side. Almost as if it were resting on a hip.
The thing's eye tilted up like it was smiling. The triangle spun around Danny's head, looking him up and down.
"Nice to finally meet you face-to-face, DP! The name's Bill Cipher, by the way."
Bill tipped his hat up in greeting.
"Wha-what? Where am I?" Danny asked weakly.
"I'm a Dream Demon, kid! So you're in the Mindscape, where only something like me can find their way around. Oh, you might be able to survive, if Pine Tree and Shooting Star don't kill you first!"
"Who are Pine Tree and Shooting Star?" Danny wondered aloud.
"Ah, I think that you fleshbags call them...Dipper? And Mabel?"
"W-why would th-they k-kill me?"
"It's what they do! Hunt the supernatural, just like the old men. Although they'll probably want to open you up and see what makes you tick first."
"Y-you're lying! I-I tr-trust the twins!" The Halfa was startled to say it out loud. But it was true. Even though he had only known them for a few days, the hybrid still trusted the twelve-year-old kids.
"Oh really? Well then why don't you ask Pine Tree about me, DP? And then maybe you'll see just how quick they are to trust a Halfa."
The world went grey, and everything was dark for a moment.
"Remember!" Bill shouted. "Reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold BYE!"
Danny awoke with a start. He was disoriented, and could hardly tell which way was up or down. Somebody rested their hand on his shoulder and the ghost boy flinched away.
"Easy there, kid," Stan said. "You gave us a bit of a scare."
Danny shook his head slightly to clear it. The Halfa focused on Dipper.
"Bill Cipher," he said. "Tell me about Bill Cipher."
The four members of the Pines family jumped back slightly. Danny realized that each of their stances were different; Mabel had moved in front of her brother, and looked ready to beat down all of the monsters in the forest.
Ford was completely rigid, staring at the hybrid warily.
Stan had his brow furrowed, and looked like he was about to say something.
Dipper...Dipper was tensed up quite a bit in a way that looked rather painful. He had his arms wrapped around his waist and midsection, as if he was protecting something. One of Dipper's hands had clamped around his upper arm, for some reason.
"Why do you want to know?" The brunet boy asked quietly.
"He-he said th-that you g-guys would k-kill me. Th-that you wo-would never t-trust me be-because I was a H-Halfa."
"Of course we trust you!" Mabel cried. "But Bill is bad news. Really, really bad news."
"Did you make a deal with him?" Ford growled.
Danny shook his head. "N-no. He d-didn't a-ask for one."
The older man lunged forward, and grabbed Danny's lower arm. For the first time, Danny noticed that he had six fingers on each hand.
"Are you absolutely sure that he didn't make a deal with him?" The man sounded so angry and serious, and Danny wondered why. He didn't like it when people got mad at him.
No-good freak. Scum. Monster. Creature. It. Thing. Specimen. Ectoplasmic cluster of post-human consciousness. Unloved. Unwanted.
Danny ripped his arm away. The hybrid shook his head frantically. "N-no, I swear."
"Stop scaring scaring the kid, Ford," Stan grumbled, away tugging his...actually, how were they related? Ford looked a bit younger, but they had the exact same face. Just like Dipper and Mabel.
"Did he tell you that he was a Dream Demon?" Dipper asked. "Yeah. He k-kept calling me DP. And y-you two w-were P-Pine Tree and Sh-Shooting Star."
"Those are true names," Dipper said softly. "Soul names. He can't use those ones to control you, but they're still incredibly powerful if you know how to use them."
"H-how do y-you kn-know all of th-that?" Danny tilted his head. The ghost boy was pretty sure that you couldn't get this kind of thing on the internet. Unless you went on one of those weird conspiracy message board sites that Tucker used to love.
The four shifted uncomfortably. "That's a really long story," Stan muttered. "And we don't know if your trustworthy enough yet to hear all of it."
Mabel gasped and flopped her sleeves around. "Grunkle Stan! Danny is totally trustworthy! Although it would probably take you a while to tell him your entire formerly-mysterious backstory."
"I'll tell you mine," Danny said, before he could lose his nerve. "About my powers, my life, my f-family. If you tell me about you."
The Pines family huddled up and discussed it. Danny covered his ears, trying not to intrude.
Finally, they all turned back around.
"Alright," Stan said. "It all started a lifetime ago..."