I Do It All For....

Chapter 10

Dipper's POV:

I was still a bit shocked but that wore off quickly, that seemed like a lot but I would learn to get used to it. I stayed by Bill's side and watched the demons party, but I was growing bored. "How do you sit here all night?" I asked him with a groan. Bill chuckled, "Well for one, I read people's minds. That's very interesting. For another, I watch over my friends. I make sure they're okay and I read their minds, it makes me feel almost like I'm a part of the conversation..." I noticed he grew sad at the end, "Why don't you go down there and join us?" I asked. Bill sighed, "I would love to Pinetree, but it's not wise. If I go down there I will make careless decisions, I can't do that in front of all these demons. They all know me as the King's son, the prince, the future King of the Nightmare realm, they expect a leader who is held together and responsible and that's not me with my friends." 

I frowned, "Everyone should be free to do as they please, make bad decisions and learn from them." Bill nodded, "I wish Pinetree, sadly when you are royalty you no longer have the same rights as every other normal creature. You have to stay strong and never show weakness to your kingdom, you are expected to conquer every land you set into, you are expected to continue the bloodline. 'Who knows how powerful the next one could be', that's all they think when people think of the next generation of Demon royalty." He sunk further and further into this depressing mood. 

I pat his shoulder, "It's okay Bill, I don't expect that from you. You can be real with me." I smiled at him and he gave me a small smile back, "Plus, you don't have to be weak to show emotion. Live a little, show them you can be just like them and have fun. You don't have to be emotionless." He nodded, "I guess you're right Pinetree. I'll try to lighten up." I smiled, "Great! Now if you would kindly return me to my friends..." He chuckled and waved his hands, "Alright off you go." then next thing I know I'm dizzy and about to fall over when someone grabbed me and held me steady.

"Woah! Hey, good to have you back Sapling!" I heard Tad greet me. I grabbed onto his shoulder and righted myself, "Hey guys!" I exclaimed after seeing them. I let go of Tad after I regained my balance then took a moment to realize what he said. "Wait, why'd you call me 'sapling'?" I asked him. Tad hummed before saying, "Oh, it's kinda a way to say you're our friend. It's a nickname of your nickname. Since Bill gave you the nickname Pinetree, it's been claimed by royalty and therefore it's disrespectful for us to use it. But we can call you something related to that, so Sapling it is." I thought about it, demons have a lot of rules and seem to have to show a lot of respect to their superiors. It's very restricting and kind of depressing...

I shook my head, no need to get into that train of thought. "Anyway, what did I miss?" I asked the group. Some of them shrugged, "Nothing much. We were shocked to see Bill give you an honorary role of respect but otherwise, it was just more chatter about that. What did you and Bill talk about?" Kryptos asked. "Well, it was mostly about the role he gave me. Other than that I got bored so I asked him to send me back here," I said. The others nodded and I hesitated before finally asking, "Do any of you ever worry for Bill?" They stopped what they were talking about and turned all the attention on me, "How do you mean?" Tad asked. I fidgeted before I answered, "Well... Bill seems a little sad. I mean, he's always seemed so lively to me but just now he was so depressed while talking about being royalty..."

I looked up to see the others staring at each other, they must be using telepathy because they're emotions give it away. Then Kryptos sighs, "Dipper, there's nothing we can do. Bill's always been like this, whenever he has these huge parties or when he goes to council meetings he always seems depressed. We've tried to cheer him up for centuries, no one has been able to except..." When he trailed off I got curious, "Except who?" I asked anxiously. I wanted to find them so I could get Bill to be happy again. They were silent until Tad spoke up, "Except my other cousin, Will, Bill's brother." My eyes widened before becoming somber, so that's why...