Chapter Text
“Do you trust me?”
-Aladin
All Dipper knew was chaos. His last clear recollection was that of his sister falling from a catwalk, after that, everything was just quick flashes: a triumphant cry, a burning book, then a tugging sensation and blackness. Now, as he looked around, his surroundings made even less sense than his memories.
Strange colors and smells assaulted his senses, unidentifiable junk floated by aimlessly, and gravity seemed to have gone out to lunch. In one direction, he could see actual structures, but with designs so strange they should be impossible. In another, there was an asteroid field. But the most alarming things were the nightmarish creatures surrounding him. They were speaking incomprehensibly, but the mocking tone was undeniable.
"HEY, PINE TREE! HOW DO YOU LIKE MY HOME?" a familiar voice called out and before Dipper could even process what it was saying, all his terror and confusion converted into action, a single action: escape. He shot off, not bothering to think about how he was moving or where he might be going. He was already inside the asteroid field before the voice called out, “DON’T LET HIM GET AWAY.”
He was able to dodge most of the boulders without slowing down. The creatures were well out of sight before the voices started to get closer, accompanied by sounds of clashing rocks and curses. Still, they were gaining on him and no matter how many turns he took he couldn’t seem to shake them. Finally, he slowed down and took in his surroundings, looking for a place to hide. One nearby asteroid was so huge he thought he might be able to lie flat against it and not be noticed. Two other asteroids had cave-like openings. One was incredibly small and would be difficult to wriggle into but it was unlikely to be noticed. The other had a wide opening that could be easily spotted; they might even be able to see him inside.
He hesitated, knowing that the small cave was probably the smartest option but terrified he’d get stuck. As the voices began to close in, he panicked and went for the wide cave mouth, clumsily landing on his feet and stumbling into the back of the cave, trying to make himself small against one of the walls. The rock was rough and porous, probably leaving him covered in scrapes he didn’t have time to deal with. He took deep calming breaths and tried to make sense of things.
The voice, still echoing in Dipper's mind, had been Bill's, he was sure of that. He remembered that his last hours on Earth had been spent in the "mindscape" but he still didn't understand what that meant. If he and Bill were both here, what had happened to his body? Where was here anyway?
Suddenly, the asteroid moved, fast, jolting Dipper out of his thoughts. The voices were right on top of him now, taunting and threatening. He clung to the wall as the boulder spun and bounced around, trying to maintain some sense of balance and direction. Anger bubbled up inside. Why was he hiding like a scared little girl? What made these monsters any different than the ones he’d fought before? He tried to stand, ready to go out there and prove his metal. An enormous claw reaching into the cave entrance made him think better of that. What would happen if they got him?
Something grabbed him. He yelled and tried to yank away but the grip was firm. Looking down, he saw a hand, a human hand, tightly gripping his wrist. It was clammy, pale, unnaturally smooth, and didn’t appear to be attached to anything, like it had grown out of the cave wall.
"I can help,” an unfamiliar voice whispered. Now he could see a month on the cave wall, pale lips and gleaming white teeth. If the hand was creepy, this was downright disturbing. “Please, I can help but we have to hurry.”
“Get off of me,” Dipper demanded, mimicking the voice’s volume. His brain couldn’t keep up with what he was seeing and the motion of the asteroid was not helping. Gravity was already inconsistent enough without being passed around like a volleyball.
"They already have you," the voice, which Dipper now decided was feminine, continued. "It’s only a matter of time before they get bored and drag you back to base. I can get you away without them seeing, but you have to trust me.” He didn’t have a lot of options. Who knew what Cipher was planning to do with him and Dipper was on unfamiliar ground. Was it choosing “the devil you know” if he was a complete enigma?
“How can I trust you if I can’t even see you?” he hissed, still squirming against her hand.
“Fair enough.” The stone surface seemed to melt away, revealing a young woman, not much taller than himself. It seemed like all the color had leached out of her long ago, leaving her skin nearly white, and her hair, pulled back into a severe bun, a dull black. All but her head, hands, and feet were covered in a drab, gray, shapeless fabric. The only color that remained were her blue eyes, and even those were a deep midnight blue that might be mistaken for black at first glance. She dropped his wrist and offered her hand. “Believe me you don’t want them to catch you. You go into that base you won’t be coming back out.” The voices outside were getting more impatient. Time was running out.
No one you can trust
“Alright,” he said, clutching the proffered hand.
“I need you to be absolutely silent. This might get a little weird.” She kicked off, not through the cave entrance but through the rock itself. Dipper gasped but he never touched the stone, just passed right through it. Once he was out in the open, the woman was nowhere to seen, but he could still feel her hand in his. The creatures surrounded them on all sides. One had stopped the asteroid and was digging inside the cave entrance. They’d gotten out just in time. The hand he could feel but not see started to drag him towards the fringes of the group. It was a close thing; he felt himself brush up against at least two of the creatures. A cry of disappointment went up from the one holding the asteroid. The creatures they had passed yelled and pointed in their direction.
The chase was on again, only this time Dipper was being led. Rather than dodge around asteroids, they passed right through them. Judging by the sound, the creatures were gaining fast, too fast. In just a few minutes they had caught up. This was it, he was caught. He closed his eyes tight, monsters all around, and waited for the worst. The hand jerked him in a new direction and he opened his eyes again. Most of the goons had passed them by. A straggler had just come very close to running into them. His guide had stopped. Once all their pursues were well ahead, she followed much more slowly.
Now he had a chance to calm down, Dipper realized that he was just as invisible as his companion. Soon, they reached a small cluster of asteroids and phased right through the stone, entering a rudimentary living space. A couple of empty boxes sat in the corner with food and medical supplies littering the bottom. Several piles of fabric were scattered across the cave floor, presumably used as chairs and beds.
"We should be safe here, at least for a bit,” the woman said, once again visible. She looked Dipper over with some confusion and then asked, "Where’s your body?"
Dipper wasn’t sure. He remembered being forced out of his body back on Earth and did not remember returning to it, but this woman had spoken to him and made physical contact. How could she do that if he didn’t have a physical form? He examined himself and saw that he was still a translucent spirit with a slight blue glow.
When the woman didn't receive an answer she just shrugged and plopped down on one of the fabric piles. "I guess you won't be using up food supplies," she quipped and gestured for him to have a seat on a different pile. He did. As he sat, the coarse fabric shifted under the weight he shouldn’t have. Thousands of questions, filled his head, swirling incomprehensibly. Each time he tried to grasp one, it slipped through his fingers. He fell back on basic politeness, giving himself time.
"Thanks for getting me out of there,” he murmured, still trying to catch his breath. “I'm Dipper Pines, what's your name?"
"Pines?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. "Did I hear that right?"
"Yeeeaaah." She mulled that over for a moment before shaking her head, dismissing it.
"If you’re Dipper then I suppose you may call me… Delphina."
"Nice to meet you."
Delphina nodded, still seeming unsure of him. Dipper bit his lip and tried to be calm and figure out what were the most important questions.
"What is this place? Where am I?" His host sighed, then answered with her own question.
"You're from Earth right?" He nodded. "Alright, how much do you know about multiverse theory?"
Dipper was familiar with the concept from sci-fi books and films and he gave a brief description of how he thought it worked.
"Close enough, I’m hardly the expert," she said, giving Dipper the impression that she'd had this conversation many times before. "We’re in a place that isn't a proper timeline or dimension or reality, but a sort of crawl space between them. Things that you've probably taken for granted all your life, like the Laws of Physics, don't necessarily apply here, and the distinctions between mind, body, and soul are a lot blurrier. Long before my time, it was called Dimension 0 but now most people just call it the Nightmare Realm."
"Nightmare Realm," Dipper pondered. "Ominous, fitting place for Cipher though, being a dream demon and all." That was the wrong thing to say
"How do you know who Bill Cipher is?" she snarled. Her voice was angry but her breathing quickened in fear.
Dipper, wary of his host’s odd reaction, began to tell his story, starting with his foolish deal and recounting up to the point when his sister and his own body had fallen from the catwalk. He still wasn't sure what happened after that, like something was blocking out the memory. He was fairly certain the Journal, his one treasure, had been destroyed. As to what happened to his sister and his own body, he didn't have a clue nor did he know how he had found himself in the Nightmare Realm.
Now Delphina was pacing, occasionally muttering under her breath or clenching her fists. In order to answer some of her questions, he explained about fighting Bill in his uncle's mind and the way Bill was talked about in the journal.
She wanted detailed descriptions of both the journal and his Grunkle Stan but wouldn’t explain why. That annoyed him. Here he was trying to be honest while she was hiding things. Finally, the questions stopped.
"Well, it seems to me that Cipher intentionally brought you here through the mindscape, which means he still wants you for something,” Delphina announced, sitting back down. “I don't know what happened to your body but there's a decent chance he killed you, which explains why you're blocking it out." Most of the friendliness that had colored her voice had faded into callous apathy.
Dipper didn't want to think about his… death, his brain rejected the idea. What could Bill possibly want with him? He was just some kid. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. Delphina was terrified of Bill. She must have a good reason. How far did that terror go? Would it override her goodwill towards him?
"Why did you help me?"
"That’s sorta just what I do," she answered, taken aback. "I help other castaways survive and evade capture. I'd like to say that it's for some noble, selfless reason or that it's some small act of defiance, but really, I think I'm just bored, and lonely."
"Castaways?"
"Oh, just people like me, who fell through wormholes or were messing around with interdimensional travel and got stuck here. Castaways, refugees, whatever. Cipher and his gang usually try to grab anyone that comes through, partly for sport, partly to see if they might be useful. I've adapted to life out here better than most so I try to grab people before Cipher does, show them the ropes." He noted her careful use of "people like me," not us. What made him different?
"Aren't you worried that he'll come after you for that?"
"Oh, he has. Seems like there's a new search party out looking for me every few weeks, but they're incredibly haphazard. I've seen them go after targets he really wants, meticulous, well-organized search parties designed to find and outflank their target. I'm just a minor nuisance, not worth the effort. But you might be, worth the effort that is, which is what has me concerned. I may have just put a very large target on my back."
"You’re not going to turn me in are you?"
"Of course not.” Delphina sounded offended. “I may be backing the wrong horse but I've made my choice and I'm sticking to it now. Still, staying here probably isn't our best option. Patrols already spotted me in this area recently and they probably suspect I’m involved."
She stood up and grabbed the fabric she'd been sitting on. Once it was in her hand, Dipper realized the seemingly shapeless fabric was, in fact, a knapsack. She opened it up, walked over to the boxes in the corner, and started sorting through the supplies, deciding what to pack.
"Bring yours over too," she called over her shoulder. Dipper picked up his shapeless mass of fabric and brought it over to the corner. Once he set it down she had him collect the rest of the fabric piles from around the cave. Somehow she was filling a second knapsack that he knew he hadn’t brought over. Dipper was mostly quiet, not wanting to pester her while she seemed so focused.
Once most things were packed, she turned to Dipper and asked, “Can you take your hat or vest off?” This seemed like an odd question until he tried. They came off easily enough but the moment he put them down they returned to their original position on his body. The same went for objects in any of his pockets, though new objects could be added and removed without trouble. “We can work with this, strap your hat to your belt loop.” He did. Then she began taking the extra fabric and wrapping it around his body similar to how it was wrapped around hers. She also wrapped both of their faces. They each put on one of the knapsacks.
“Okay, we’re going to have to stick together. My cloaking and illusions are helpful but they don’t do a thing about my heat signature and some of those monsters see infrared. You don’t have a heat signature so I might still be able to trick them but they’ll catch on quickly. Most of these things are unkillable, at least without the right tools, but not invincible. I prefer avoidance tactics but I can incapacitate some of them if I have to. I’ve been scouting out a spot that’s free of refugees. Hopefully, we’ll be safe there for a few days at least. We don’t know how big of a priority you are yet so they might just give up after a while. Just keep close, follow my lead, try not to get caught.”
Dipper nodded, not feeling at all prepared, wishing he could get to his pen. He wondered where all of Delphina’s fear had gone. She seemed a lot more confident. While Dipper was trying to mentally prepare himself, Delphina looked at the boxes and the remaining few items and snapped her fingers. They turned to dust, instantly. The dust rose from the ground encircling her arms and legs in thick rings that condensed into something like coal.
“How did you do that?”
“I told you. This place has different rules.” Then Delphina turned and looked at him. His breathing was uneven, his eyes were darting between Delphina and various parts of the now-empty cave, and he was slowly backing towards the cave wall. Could she snap him to dust that easily?
With her face covered it was hard to remember she was human. Or was she? Had she said she was from Earth? Why was he trusting this strange and powerful person he knew nothing about? What could she possibly gain from helping him?
The wrapped figure squatted down to be at eye level with Dipper. Just then, he backed into the cave wall, backed through it. It scared him a little but it was a good sign. He didn’t need her to leave
“Dipper, I know this is a lot to take in. We’re both scared but we have to hold it together until we reach somewhere safe. Maybe you don’t think you can trust me and that’s justified, I’m hardly the most trusting person myself, but I want to get out of this just as much as you do. Prisoner’s Dilemma, if we both trust we win, but you have to take a gamble.” She offered her hand again.
Dipper’s brain screamed at him not to trust her, to push through the stone and bolt in a random direction. He had nothing to offer. He was a threat to her safety. Shouldn't she be happy to have him gone?
"What do you win?" He demanded. She thought about that.
"I… can’t quite put it into words. You'd think after spending so long in this wasteland I'd learn that helping others doesn't pay, but that's not been my experience. I reached the point where I don't have to spend all my energy simply on survival. With more time to think, despair, loneliness, and longing started to creep in, and that makes me reckless and vulnerable. So, I put my time and energy into helping others. I don't pretend to be brave or selfless but I need other people. Humans are social animals; we go mad on our own. Besides, do you think I could live with myself if I left a kid to the mercy of Cipher?"
Dipper knew how dumb the “what do you get out of it” mentality was. Some people just want to help because it’s the right thing. But that was on Earth. This is Cipher’s world. The same rules didn’t apply.
Something else she said clicked though. Loneliness. Did he want to be stuck out in this void alone? That thought scared him almost as much as getting caught. Isolation made people desperate. If he was alone, how long would it be before he simply gave up, let Cipher take him? He took her hand.
“Together then,” he decided, not ready to trust, but willing to take a risk.
GSRH XLFOW YV Z KILYOVN.