Dipper's POV:
After Kryptos had his freak out session, we all went back to talking and laughing. I was still behind the bar, making drinks whenever someone came up or when one of the guys asked me to. Bill hadn't contacted me in a while so I assumed he's busy. Soon we heard a voice boom over all the noise and the music had been silenced. "Good evening everyone! How's the party?!" Bill shouted. There was a mass of cheering and shouting, slurs were yelled from the people who had too much to drink. Bill chuckled, "Good, good! Now, how were those drinks from the bar!?" he asked. This time the noise was really loud, louder than before. "Well, that's great to hear!" he said.
Then he snapped his fingers and I was by his side, one of his hands rested on my shoulder. "The party we are having is for this boy here! Student, resident, and esteemed guest of the Fearamid! He's also tonight's bartender, so can we get a round of applause for him!?" Bill shouted. The noise was so loud I wanted to cover my ears but only cringed a bit while smiling at everyone kindly. When it settled down Bill seemed to get serious, "Now, this boy here is Dipper Pines otherwise commonly known around here as Pinetree. He is Human, and as an esteemed guest, no one is allowed to harm him. Anyone who does will get punished by me personally. If you don't see why he is here, then I should have you all know he is the reason we can travel outside of Gravity Falls and across the whole world."
Murmurs spread around the place and Bill continued to talk, "I hope you treat him with dignity and respect, the same as you would give another high ranking demon. If you have a problem with that then you don't have to have any more drinks tonight and you can take it up with me." He took a breath as he finished with, "Have a good rest of the night! Don't forget to party hard and have fun!" The demons cheered at the end and went back to partying. Bill dragged me with him to his throne, which he sat on while I stood by it. He addressed me with a smile, "So Pinetree, having fun?" I smiled back and nodded, "Yeah, I made some friends with the henchmaniacs and we were all talking before your announcement." Bill's usual grin seemed to be a genuine smile, "That's good Pinetree. I was hoping you would be friends with them, that way your duties wouldn't be a problem."
My smile grew nervous, "What would my duties be, Bill?" With a wave of his hand, he said, "Oh, nothing to worry about now Pinetree. Don't worry you won't be killing people, just some jobs I'll have you do when you're older." I was still nervous but his confidence made me believe him. "Okay, Bill." His usual mischievous grin was back, "Great, Pinetree! Now go make me a drink! Surprise me!" he exclaimed playfully. I rolled my eyes while chuckling and I was teleported back to the bar. The guys were still loitering around it and when they noticed me they said, "Hey, Sapling! Wow, Bill must really need you if you got an equal rank as Tad!" Eightball said. Tad hit him upside the head, "Or he's grown to like him. Bill's a use it and lose it guy, once they've served their purpose he gets rid of them. If Saplings sticks around it's because Bill at least sees him as a good person."
I was half happy half sad, I didn't know how to take this news. On one hand, I'm pretty much living here from the little kindness in Bill's demon heart so I might be what Bill sees as a good person. On the other hand, Bill said he had jobs for me in the future meaning he's not done with me so I might be used and then trashed too. I decided to not dwell on it, might as well have fun while I can. I smile but remember something else they had said. Confused I asked, "Hey, what did you mean I have an equal rank to Tad? Aren't all demons above humans?" The group looked over at me, "Like humans, demons have a social structure. Instead of richest to poorest, we determine rank by power. In the demon world, without Bill's grace, you would be one of the servant demons because of your limited power and your job is to serve other demons.
"But because Bill is one of the most powerful demons, by his grace any demon can receive a higher ranking even a human. Usually if a human was given demon rights it would just be servant demon rights, basically, no demon can kill you without a good reason or a very powerful demon's permission and you have to serve demons. But you got a rank equal to a high ranking demon, someone of my caliber. I am a very strong demon because I am his cousin, but not quite as powerful as Bill making me just a high ranking demon who receives respect. You are a human who can do basic spells, nobody would give you a glance but now they will show you respect as if you were me because of Bill." Tad explained. If Bill has this much power, then what exactly is he in the demon world? "Tad, what exactly is Bill in your world?" I ask.
