Lullaby For Another Day [BillDip]

Reflection

The first feeling that occurred to Dipper as he slowly began to awaken was a peaceful warmth – the kind that sunk deep beneath your skin as if you had been lying in the sun for hours. It lingered like a breath as he stirred into consciousness, the darkness behind his eyelids changing into a deep burgundy before he blinked up at flecks of green dappled across a canvas of blue.

Yawning, Dipper almost had the urge to close his eyes and go back to sleep, and yet a nagging feeling at the back of his mind urged him to awaken, to do something, although what he wasn't sure.

Still, Dipper lay there a moment longer, taking in the peace of the moment. The grass was cool against his back, the air pleasantly warm. A cool, earthy breeze drifted through the branches of the needle tipped tree above him – carrying with it the heady scent of pine.

Pine... Pine tree...

Bill.

Dipper sat up, the last cobwebs of sleep falling from his mind as what he was doing suddenly came back to him in a rush.

The end of the world, Mabel, everything...

Within moments the brunette was on his feet, glancing wildly at the scene around him. He was standing within a clearing, surrounded on all sides by trees. Strangely, this place was in color unlike the usual monochrome Dipper had encountered the few other times he'd ventured into the mindscape. But the differences didn't end there. This place, it felt like a photograph, like the memories he'd seen within his Grunkle's mind more than the chaos of the mind itself. Everything seemed so real - from the heat, to the crunch of the grass under his feet, to the gentle rustling of the trees as they swayed around him.

And it felt strangely...familiar.

Swallowing, Dipper shoved the questions brewing within him away, firmly pressing onward in search of the key Bill had been talking about.

It was strange that Bill had willingly made a deal that took away his demonic abilities. Dipper, of course, could understand Mabel's desire – although he wasn't exactly happy about it.

He'd do the same for her after all: sacrifice himself so that she could live on.

But Bill... why on earth would he want to give up the apocalypse he had worked so hard for? Something just wasn't adding up.

And now there was this strange place, which seemed far too serene and peaceful for a dream demon who lived for chaos and destruction...

There was movement from back the way Dipper had come, and he spun around – half expecting some horrifying beast to come lurching at him followed by an army of assorted nightmares.

But there was nothing there. Timidly, the brunette walked forwards, squinting at the shade beneath the tree.

There it was again, this time clearer than before, shifting until it was standing.

It was distinctly human.

And it looked exactly like Dipper.

"Who are you?" he asked, strangely unafraid of the look-alike standing before him. This was the mindscape after all – anything was possible.

Especially considering the fact that this was none other than Bill Cipher's mindscape.

The doppelgänger smiled softly, moving towards Dipper.

"You, obviously." It scoffed, a playful lilt to its voice.

Dipper was talking to himself.

Not that this was the first time, but still, it was a little strange.