Gravity Rises (S2)

GL: Part Six

Bud's heart hammered against his ribcage as he walked down the halls of Order headquarters. His purple robes swished against his ankles, and he tried to force himself to slow down, but he couldn't. If someone saw him down here, he didn't know if he could give a plausible excuse for being here outside of an official meeting. And if anyone found out what he was planning to do. . . If he was caught. . .

He quickened his step.

There was no other alternative. The last forty-eight hours had been so terrible, he just couldn't stand it any longer. And he was starting to suspect who might have told Pacifica about the Order.

If he begged him to take it away. . . if he begged him to stop her madness. . .

Bud took a firelit lantern from the hallway, ducked into an empty room, and closed the door swiftly behind him. Once he looked around to make sure he was alone, he let out a sigh of relief and then got to work.

He found ten candles, matches, and a piece of chalk stashed away in a cabinet drawer. Beneath them lay a faded piece of parchment, which gave the instructions of the ritual. Bud pulled a picture from his robes, a photo and him and Pacifica smiling up from the frame, and set it on the floor in the middle of the room.

Then he started drawing.

Ten minutes later, a wobbly but recognizable Cipher Wheel circled the picture frame in its center. Bud placed the candles outside the Wheel so that they completed their own circle, and carefully lit them, making sure not to catch his robes in the flame. Once all the candles were lit, Bud picked up the parchment with trembling fingers and began to read the incantation.

His voice was hesitant at first, and he stumbled over the words. As he got farther into the spell, however, he got stronger and more confident.

And then the spell was taking over, and he was down on his knees, yelling the same phrase over and over again without telling his mouth to move. He shouted the words at the top of his voice, and then it stopped, and his vision filled with white.

When his eyes cleared, the candles were out, the world was in grey, and a glowing yellow triangle floated above him.

"Bud Pleasure!" Bill Cipher said, his multi-layered voice echoing dully in the small room. "I was wondering if you'd work up the courage to summon me."

Since Bud was already on his knees anyway, he bowed to the demon, his forehead touching the floor. "L-L-Lord Cipher," he stammered. "I c-come to you in g-great distress."

"When else do people like you come to me?" Cipher replied.

Bud looked up in surprise.

Cipher surveyed the crude summoning circle Bud had drawn, and let out something like a chuckle when his gaze landed on the photograph Bud had offered as a sacrifice. "Your daughter has more style."

"So she has summoned you?" Bud asked. "P-please, Lord Cipher, I can't bear it any longer. She—"

"I know exactly what's going on," Cipher said.

"O-of course you do."

"But Pacifica summoned me before she went insane. And, by the way, she's always been crazy. You just don't care enough to see it."

"I-I-I — Pacifica is my treasure, I-I love her dearly!"

"Not enough to stop her from leaving you for a year," Cipher replied. "You've always feared her. But I digress. You want me to do something to stop her madness."