Chapter Text
Bill Cipher should've known not to mess with a witch. Witches were dangerous, a threat to both the supernatural and regular humans – especially towards other magical beings, unless they're more powerful. It was an unwritten, unspoken rule within the large community of supernatural creatures: never mess with something stronger than you unless you're trying to usurp it.
So, he spent most of his time flipping through minds like a catalogue, taking out the witches to make sure he never ever tempted fate and keeping tabs on the most interesting (as of right now there were only two tabs; a pine tree shaped one which he visited often and a shooting star that he only touched occasionally due to how... vibrant it was).
After centuries of ripping out the doors into certain minds, he rarely paid attention to the unique feel each one had - if they were a witch, their mind was in no need of dreams from him; he'll leave those to another idiotic demon.
But of course, his world had been changing slowly after hanging around the Pines twins for so long and a part of him that he'd locked away long ago resurfaced. Bill was curious. Not about how humans functioned or what another demon was doing; no, he was actually curious about the mind of a witch.
All that raw fear buried deep within, their entire life spent sleeping in the dark - no dreams, no nightmares. It wasn't rare, most witches had pitch black minds with little glows that indicated a memory, their favorite things, etc. At night it was nothing but white noise and the occasional flash as another memory was added. But this witch, oh this witch. Their mind was practically ripe for the taking, so many different nightmares he could inflict on them. It made him feel giddy in the same way watching people burn did.
He had to do it and, without a second thought, he did.
If only he'd remembered the phrase 'Curiosity killed the cat' because two days later, his impulsive, almost human-like actions came back to bite him in the ass.
----------
It's another regular night of Bill weaving sweet dreams into the minds of children and giving a nightmare to those he thinks deserve it (which is usually any and all adults; they're not kids anymore, they can handle blood in their face and shadows chasing them down). As much as it was fun hearing the tortured screams of a man getting ripped in half, he had to admit his job was extremely tedious.
And what does he do when he knows he's made one too many candy mountains? He visits the little pine tree tab of course. Seeing the kid try to beat him up in his mind always makes him laugh in that high-pitched, nasally way that's borderline psychotic.
Just as he's about to pop into Pine Tree's mind, there's a tug and then he's being yanked through a small portal. It's happens all to quickly that he's sort of spinning through the portal, managing to get on his feet and look presentable by the time he pops out on the other side.
His eye darts around, taking in his surroundings. It looks like small cottage with miss on the wooden walls. There are oddly shaped vials filled with colored liquids sloshing around inside and shelves of ingredients he knows all too well.
“You! Vile Demon!”
Oh great. Bill's eye moves to the other side of his body and as he suspected, the witch he'd been fixated on two days before is standing before him, fire in their eyes. Sighing, he completely 'turns' around, cane coming into existence so that he could lean on it. He knew he shouldn't have touched their mind.
“What do you want?” He tries to show the other that he wasn't in the mood for games, that whatever they were planning wouldn't work on him. Witches were dangerous and powerful, but he was Bill Cipher for fuck's sake. He's dealt with worse things.
“You dare invade my mind and implant that freak show?!” Right, this witch had a deliciously deadly fear of circuses.
He raises his one brow, silently saying 'Yeah. So what?'. That only serves to infuriate the witch even more.
“I'll show you what happens when lowly demons mess with me...” And then they're mumbling the rest of the time, shuffling around their home before they pluck a skinny vial filled with dark red liquid. It reminds him of blood and for a second, he's actually afraid of what they were about to do. It didn't help that he couldn't move from the tiny circle carved on the ground.
“What's that? Deer blood? Because that's my favorite kind,” he tells them, trying his best to look nonchalant about the whole ordeal. He's leaning heavily on his cane now and is frantically flipping through his overwhelming amount of knowledge, trying to figure out a way out of there.
There's a horrifying grin on the witch's face as they come closer and closer. Bill swears when his back hits the edge of the circle, effectively trapping him. He doesn't even have a chance to breathe because the red liquid is being poured all over his body. It stains him, making him look like a bloody triangle instead of a golden, all powerful demon. A burning sensation starts at the top and works its way to the bottom and he's gripping the cane now, dealing with the agonizing pain in silence.
The witch steps away, the imaginary flames licking at his body disappear, and he's his normal yellow color again. Except his glow is different, it's not the bright gold he's used to, no it's a mix between yellow and light pink. What the hell was that potion?
“It was a love potion,” the witch answers, wicked grin still on their face and empty vials filling back up with the liquid. His eye widens at the revelation and he thinks for a moment that they must be lying, but that thought it immediately shut down when he starts feeling. Pine Tree flashes through his mind and he has the urge to make him a crown of deer teeth to show his affections. Fuck.
The witch obviously sees his inner turmoil and cackles. “The most potent potion a witch knows to use against scum like you. Only way to break it is with a true love's kiss. Incredibly cliche, but works well since no one could possibly love a demon. Now, get out of my sight and STAY OUT OF MY MIND.” There's a slight wobble in their tone as they say those last five words, no doubt lacing a spell to make sure Bill listens.
He doesn't register what's going on around him, simply nodding as something tugs at him. It's a familiar feeling that he has no time to think about because he's tumbling through a portal and sliding across his mindscape.
Landing on unsteady feet, haze the witch had him in fades along with the rest of the potion, making sure the magic is deeply rooted within him. He looks around, relieved to see everything's still grey, dreary, and just how he left it - no sudden bursts of color or flowers shaped like those anatomically incorrect hearts humans give each other.
He spends the rest of the time swearing, meditating, and actively avoiding the still open door into Pine Tree's mind.