His Dove's Flight

A Destroyed Home

Smoke rises from the ruins of a once thriving civilization, the sky red as though it is still on fire. The air holds a weight as though it is mourning a tragedy more ancient than I can comprehend, just as no light dares to shine. There is not even the sound of a breeze whisking past my ear, making me for once wonder if there can be a universe with no sound. I look at the ring on my finger, seeing how it is yellow and seems to shine instead of the usual dead black. It is the only thing indicating where I am, what this wasteland once was.

I pick a random direction and stick to it in my exploration. I make not a sound, fearing to anger the souls of the ones who passed if I dare to even sigh. Even if my mind is desperate for the relief for hearing something, disrupting the solemn silence feels like it would be a crime. The silence would soon be broken, but not by me. The distant sobs are soft, but they are from the east. 

I follow the noise, letting my ears guide me. A silver acute triangle sits in front of the best preserved house I have seen. There is barely any damage. I can hear her sobbing deeply, so I come up to her.

"Hey." I crouch down to her side as I whisper, "Would you like some company?" The silver triangle flinches out of her wailing and looks up at me, her eye strikingly familiar. She looks down at my ring and snatches my hand with her stick-like hands. I let out a startled sound.

"He's alive," The triangle weakly says, "Axolotl has answered my prayers. Thank you, non-flat stranger."

"Uh-"

"Please, call me Willa. What last name is my son using these days?" She pauses in thought, then giggles lightly, "I think our last name translates to 'Cipher' in the human tongue?" I widen my eyes when she says this. My words refuse to come out.

"I- I-"

Willa's eyes seem to glitter and she lets out a small squee. "HIS SPOUSE? GET OUT!" She shouts excitedly, "Oh! How rude of me, reading my in-law's mind. You humans have this whole annoying 'privacy' thing going on, don't you?" I nod my head.

"Ms Cipher-"

"Please, feel free to call me mom. You are a part of the mighty Cipher family now!" Willa floats up from the ground, "We normally reproduce by meiosis, but I hope that it means my kind will be saved from extinction." She then laughs. "Oh this is just like my son! Always full of surprises. I bet he even surprised himself when you captured the black hole where his fliburb should be."

 I smile. "How can someone so sweet produce someone like Bill?"

"Parents only play a part in a child's development," Willa says, "Bill had other people in his life, he had stories told to him, he had ambitions, and they all influenced who he is. However, it appears that people don't stop developing when they are adults. They can still change, learn lessons, and discover more about themselves. If he married a human, then he must be on a better path."

"Some friends and I are worried that the path is narrow for him." I look up and watch the ashes rise to the sky, "That my death will lead to him gong back to who he was."

"Grief is never easy." Willa looks at me, "And it never gets any easier. The lifespan of a human is so much shorter, it is like how you view flies. Do you really not trust how he would handle your mortality?" I shake my head.

"Very well," Willa says, "I suppose it never hurts to count your angles around him." She snaps her fingers. "Ah! But you're here to look for a solution to the issue. I can say you are closer than ever, but still many ways to go."

"Then can you help me get there?"

"No-" Willa snaps her fingers, "-My child, if you only depend on deals and kindness of others to get to where you need to go, you will eventually be used. But, I can help you learn to create rifts yourself. It normally takes thousands of years of training in order to pull off even going to the universe next door, but I can try to elevate your own skill so you can do it within your lifetime."

"Thank you!" I clap my hands together and grin at Willa, "You are so kind."

"There is no time to waste, then," Willa says, "If you don't trust Bill with your death, then I doubt he would fare better with prolonged absence.

"The theory of my people's magic is simple: see the waking world as the same as a dream. You see, when you lucid dream, you can manifest anything with just thought." Willa cups her hands and forms a flower, "Anyone can do it, but the biggest hurdle is changing your perspective. Once you do, then power greater than you can imagine will be yours." Willa goes to a piece of rubble and sits on it. She taps the space next to her, and I go sit down.

"Now, close your eyes. Question everything around you. The air you breathe, the ground you touch."

I open my eyes to bright sunlight, my back pressed against the needled forest floor. I sit up and look around, clutching the side of my head. Where am I? Was my journey a dream? A lie? No. That can't be right. I get on my feet and absorb my surroundings. Everything around me is a smear of color, as though the forest is an impressionist painting. Even a bird fluttering away near by seemed so small and so distant. It all felt pointless, like nothing in the world around me matters.

I push past the trees and make my way to a cliff, revealing a swirl of lights and color. They all swirl around with no rhyme or reason. 

"They will be back eventually," A voice rings all over in my head. Yet, I could tell where it's coming from. I look behind me, finding Dipper. Clearly, undeniably Dipper.

"The hardest time in my life was when Mabel and I chose different colleges to go to." Dipper walks to stand behind me, admiring the view that I can not see, "Four years felt like forever back then, it felt like...I lost a part of me. E-even if Mabel was only a phone call away, there was still a hole in my life."

"Get to the point," I say.

"I know how you feel," Dipper says, "That you want to destroy all the obstacles between yourself and the person you care about most. But it will only do you more harm than good. You will have to hang in there, for as long as it takes. (Y/N) trusts that you won't unlearn everything you worked hard to learn for their sake."

"And what if they got eaten in the nightmare realm, kid!? What if they got lost in infinity?" I ask, feeling panic settling in, "I gotta get a peek, Pinetree! WHY DON'T YOU LET ME CATCH A GLIMPSE OF DOVE'S JOURNEY!?"

"I know- I know-" Dipper lightly touches my shoulder, pushing the panic back down, "But if (Y/N) can handle you, then do you really think they can't handle themselves out there?" I cackle at Dipper's question.

"Fine, kid." I look back up at the colorful sky, "I will hold it for a little while longer."

I open my eyes. I look around, finding myself back in the ruined place. I clutch at my head, trying to get my bearings. Willa watches, still next to me. I look up. The world around me is still real, at least, I still feel like a part of it, however, I can see an opening far above. Inside the opening is a swirl of color, the same swirl from my vision. I reach out and catch a color in my hands. I clasp it and bring it to me. I look into the color, seeing Bill and Dipper looking at a sunset together.

"I was in his head," I say softly, awe-struck.

"Hm?" Willa perks up, "Oh! You caught one!"

"I just did what felt right, I suppose," I say, "This is my home, and where Bill is. I- I had a vision seeing through his eyes. He's getting restless." I hand the sphere to Willa. Willa lets out a small gasp.

"Oh! Look at how handsome the form he took on is!" Willa coos, "It's flattering on him." I chuckle a bit. Willa lets go of the window, letting it fly back to where it came from. "So you saw it through his eye?" Willa asks, "I suppose perceiving something through the eyes of someone else makes it easier to perceive it yourself. Very clever, human, but now you have to make a portal."

I nod my head. I look into the colors again. I reach out and grab what seems like would take me closer to the Axolotl. I imagine it as a door, and a portal opens before me. I look at it with a grin.

"Cool!" I say. I go and give Willa a side hug. "Thank you so much. I'll tell Bill you're alive." I back off from her and go to the portal with a smile.

"Thank you," Willa says in response, "You are something that means so much to Bill. You've no idea how much that means." I nod my head, and then I go through the portal.