Gravity Rises (S2)

ST: Part One

Blind Lincoln's feet scuffed against the stone as he walked swiftly down the hall. The Northwest boy wasn't here — again — and there was a townsperson waiting to be relieved of their memories. Lincoln had gotten better at being patient over the years, but Gideon was trying his goodwill.

A voice drifted down the hall.

"Please, Bill, let me go. It's the only way to get rid of her!"

Blind Lincoln paused just before rounding the corner. She was out of her room. Was she talking to nothing again?

He took a quick breath and stepped out to see her.

Pacifica Pleasure sat cross-legged on the floor, staring at the wall as if she was listening intently. Her eyes were wide and pleading and unblinking. Her hands rested in her lap, fingers rubbing at the lilac fabric of the simple dress she was wearing. A silver necklace with a large crescent moon pendant swung gently on its chain around her neck.

"You know I'm grateful," she said to nothing, "but — " Then she saw him. "Oh, Blind Lincoln."

"Miss Pleasure," Lincoln said. "I do recall asking you to stay in your rooms unless I invite you out."

She blinked up at him and didn't respond for a few seconds. "But it's so stuffy in there. Why can't I come out?"

"Because you're a surprise, remember? We don't want anyone to see you before it's time."

Pacifica sighed and glanced sideways at something.

Right. Her conversation. "Who are you talking to?" Blind Lincoln forced himself to keep his voice calm and level. Pacifica talked to a lot of people that weren't there.

"Bill, of course," Pacifica said with a smile. "Don't you see him?"

Before Lincoln could answer, Pacifica looked back at the empty space next to her. "Oh, right," she said. "I forgot."

Blind Lincoln took a step forward. "Pacifica," he said gently.

She turned to him sharply. The crescent necklace glinted, along with triangle-shaped earrings hidden in her loose hair.

"Bill can only talk to people in their sleep, remember?"

"Not me," Pacifica said, smiling. "Bill can talk to me whenever he wants. It's just part of how I'm special. Right, Bill?"

Blind Lincoln grimaced. Continuous communication with Bill was a bad idea, whether or not he was real. "Pacifica — "

"Bill says he'll show up in your dreams tonight and prove that he's talking to me, if you want."

"It's alright," Lincoln replied. "I believe you." He glanced back down the passageway and decided the townsperson could wait.

He approached Pacifica and sat next to her, folding his legs beneath his purple robes. "What were you talking about? I hope you don't mind me interrupting."

Pacifica looked from Lincoln to the space where Bill apparently was. "Oh, he's gone now. I was just asking him to let me get revenge on the Pines. I've asked him a lot."

"And he keeps saying no?"

She nodded. "He says he's going to take care of it himself. Soon. But I keep trying to tell him, only I can do it. Only I can kill Mabel. If anyone else does it, she'll never go away."

"Who? Mabel?"

Another nod. "She's always here. Always."

"Where?"

Pacifica raised her finger and pointed behind Lincoln.

He turned, but once again saw nothing. Just the shadowy corner of the passageway.

"I can't see her," he admitted. "What is she doing?"

Pacifica looked away and rubbed at her arm. "Just standing there, for now. It's at night that she tries to hurt me. Bill keeps her away. His beautiful light blinds her."

Inwardly, Blind Lincoln winced. But he kept his face impassive.

"But Bill can't get rid of her personally. I have to kill her. The real Mabel — not this spirit that she sends. If anyone else does it, I don't think it'll work."

"Maybe it will," Lincoln said. "Is Bill planning on killing her?"

"He didn't say," she said. "But I don't think so. She's on the Wheel, you know."

Lincoln's eyes widened. "She is?"

Pacifica tilted her head. "Well, of course. All the Pines are."

Was that why Bill forbade Lincoln from going near the Pines? Lincoln didn't know as much about the Cipher Wheel as he wanted. Just that he was on it and that Bill was careful with his "Symbols." Perhaps going near the Pines would mess up the Wheel somehow.

"So he probably doesn't want her dead," Pacifica continued. "But I do. I need her dead, Blind Lincoln."

Surprisingly, there was little anger in her face. Instead, she looked up at Lincoln with wide, fearful eyes, and her voice shook slightly. She had demons tormenting her, and she honestly believed that killing an innocent girl was the only way to stop it.

Lincoln put a hand on Pacifica's shoulder, his throat thick with confused sympathy. "Maybe there's another way. Besides Bill, besides killing. Another way to get rid of her."

Pacifica peered up at him for a moment before looking away and shaking her head. "No. There is no other way. I thought you would understand."

"I don't understand," Lincoln said. "But I'm trying. I want you to be a strong leader, one that doesn't depend on Bill or hide from spirits."

His mind wouldn't let the irony of that statement pass. To be the leader of the Order was to be inexplicably tied to Bill Cipher and his plans.

"Bill makes me strong," Pacifica said.

Lincoln didn't know how to respond. This he understood. He understood too much.

"Here," he said, trying to meet Pacifica's eyes. She wouldn't oblige him. She wrapped the chain of her crescent moon necklace around and around her fingers.

He sighed and stood up. "Would you like to join me for a memory session?"

Now she looked up. "I thought I wasn't allowed to go the memory sessions."

She wasn't allowed to cross paths with Gideon, though she didn't know that. But Gideon wasn't here today.

"Today you are," Lincoln replied. "After all, if you're going to lead someday, you'll need to know the details about our most important duty."

He held his hand out for her. She took it and stood.

They started down the hallway.

Bill was right. Lincoln did like Pacifica more than he thought he would. He liked the idea of being a guiding hand, of teaching someone about what he knew. But even so, his stomach churned at the thought of leaving someone else to be Bill's right-hand man. It wasn't exactly an enviable job.

He glanced sideways at Pacifica. Though if she was talking to Bill while she was awake, maybe it was enviable to her. Which thought made Lincoln shudder.

He wanted to help her. He just didn't know how.