Across Dimensions //Will Cipher x Fem!Reader//

8// Statue

Mabel opens the door the next morning, and after greeting her, you skip past to the entrance to Dipper's lab.

On the way down in the elevator, your mind wanders to the dream you had last night. Maybe you should tell Dipper about Will. Won't he know what to do? Won't he know if Will means you any harm?

The elevator opens, and you enter the lab. You see Dipper, but he doesn't see you. His hand is on the glass container that holds Will. His eyes are closed.

He must be talking to Will! You want to hear what they're saying, especially if they're talking about you. But will Dipper get mad if you joined the dreamscape to listen in?

You cross the lab and hold out your hand to touch the glass. You don't think Dipper will be mad. . . .

You touch the glass. The world turns grey.

"A good thing?" Will's triangle form pops up in the container. He looks upset. "A good thing? Do you know what they do to—"

He notices you and immediately falls silent.

Dipper turns. "Yasmin! You're here." He lowers his hand, which was tangled in his hair.

"Yeah," you say. "Um, hi. What's going on?"

"Will and I were just talking," Dipper replies. "Come on, let's get back to the real world."

"About what?" you ask before you can stop yourself. You bite your lip as Dipper turns an impatient eye on you.

"That's between Will and I," he says. He at least sounds apologetic. He puts his hand out to the glass but doesn't touch it, giving you a look. You sigh, give Will a little wave, and put your hand on the glass.

Will disappears, and the lab returns to color.

"I'm sorry, Yasmin," Dipper says, "but we shouldn't discuss things in front of Will."

"You mean he can't still hear us?"

"His hold on this dimension isn't strong enough to hear us except when we directly communicate with him. Which is just as it should be. If he had anywhere near the power Bill had back before Weirdmageddon, I wouldn't even consider keeping him in my lab."

"Why doesn't he have as much power?"

Dipper puts a hand on your shoulder. "We're not ready to talk about that yet. Maybe towards the end of the summer, if everything goes well. I have so much to teach you, and dream demons and their power is a subject best left alone."

"But wouldn't I need to know how to defeat them, in case Will is dangerous, o-or Bill comes back?"

Dipper watches you for a moment. "Bill won't come back," he finally says, "and I'm closely monitoring Will. There's nothing to be afraid of."

If he's closely monitoring Will, does that mean he knows about your dreams with him?

"But," he continues, "there's no doubt about the danger of talking to a demon, even a weakened one. You have to assume they're always looking for a way to manipulate you. Will seems friendly enough, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was all just an act."

You nod, but inside you know what he's really saying. Don't talk to Will. If you tell him about the dreams, he'll put a stop to them. And you don't know for sure, but as you recall the look on Will's face when you promised to come see him again, you know it was sincere. A smile like that couldn't be fake.

"Today," Dipper says, "we're going out on an expedition. I have a pack for you with your Journal. You left it here yesterday. Grab it and let's go—there's somewhere I want to stop on the way."

You grab the pack, checking inside to make sure the Journal Dipper gave you is there. The dark blue cover is blank on the front. Dipper told you a choose a symbol to put on the front, like the pine tree on his, but you can't decide.

Dipper starts toward the door.

Now's your chance to tell him about the dreams. About Will. You glance back at the glass container, and even though you can't see Will, you imagine his smile once again.

So instead of saying anything, you follow Dipper out of the lab.

~~~~~

The Gravity Falls forest is beautiful. You knew this before you became Dipper's apprentice, but now it's even more so, now that you know what's inside it. The sun shines through the leaves to create dappled patterns on the forest floor. Every once in a while a squirrel or a gnome or a leprecorn scampers by. At one point, you even see a centaur-like creature in the distance, drinking from a stream. When he raises his head, you notice he has antlers.

"Cervitaur," Dipper says. "I got turned into one of those once."

"Wait, really?" you ask, hurrying to keep up. Dipper always walks fast.

"Yep. It's a long story, but Mabel managed to turn me back." He looks around. "We're almost there."

He lifts a tree branch and leads you through a thick cluster of trees for a while before the forest opens up into a small clearing. Your heart leaps when you see what's in the center.

A triangle-shaped statue.

The statue looks like Will, except the top hat isn't floppy. It's half-buried in the ground and made out of cracked stone with moss climbing up its sides. One hand stretches out to the side, like it's reaching for you.

Before you register what you're doing, you take a step forward. Dipper puts an arm out to hold you back.

"A few steps away is a force-field," he says, "and it can be rather nasty if you run into it."

You stand still.

"This," Dipper says, "is Bill Cipher."

It takes you a second to find your voice. "Wh-why is he out here?"

"This is where he fell," Dipper said, "after Weirdmageddon. We didn't find him until years later. We didn't dare touch him, in case it somehow brought him back, so we put a force-field around him to keep any wanderers away. Nothing can get near him."

You just stare. Your eyes trace the cracks in the stone.

Dipper puts an arm around your shoulder, and you jump. "We're safe from him," he says. "He can't return."

After another moment of silence, Dipper takes his arm away and shrugs his pack up higher on his shoulders. "Well, we'd best be going. The gnomes have a scampfire infestation, and we're going to help." He turns, and then looks back at you. "Does this make you feel better?"

You stare at him for a moment before it hits you. He thought you asked those questions because you were afraid of Bill returning.

"U-um, yes," you say.

It doesn't sound convincing to you, but Dipper nods. "Good. Let's go, then."

You follow Dipper back through the trees, away from the statue. But before it's out of sight completely, you can't help but turn back to look at it one more time. You don't know why it's so mesmerizing, but it is.

Your gaze lingers for a moment before you pull it away.