Gravity Rises (S2)

HW: Part Eleven

Gideon's thoughts remained on Mabel for the next few days. Whenever he wasn't focused on escape plans, he wondered about Mabel. What she was doing, how she was feeling, if. . . well, if she ever thought about him.

He got more and more excited at the prospect of seeing her, too. He tried to stamp out those feelings — there wasn't much chance this would even work, so he shouldn't get his hopes up. But he couldn't. He wanted to see Mabel, and he had to tell the Pines his secret, and he found himself lost in petty fantasies where the Pines took him in and kept him safe from Gaston. Gideon watched and waited for his opportunity to run.

Finally, that opportunity came.

It was a little over a week since he'd rescued Mabel from Pacifica. He had just finished breakfast with his mother — which was highly unusual, but she'd sensed something was wrong with him and reached out in the best way she knew how. It really just made it all worse, since he couldn't confide in her, but he tried to appreciate the gesture. He wondered how much control Gaston had over his wife, if a meal together was the most interaction she could have with her son.

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. On his way from the dining room, Gideon was stopped by Gaston. Not a servant delivering a message, but Gaston himself. "You're needed," he said, which was a brief way to say that there was someone at the Order in need of mind-wiping.

"All right," Gideon replied. He turned and started walking down the hall, taking the turn that led to the secret entrance to the Order headquarters.

Gaston followed him.

Gideon kept expecting — kept hoping for — him to turn away, to simply have a similar route as he. But he didn't. He followed him all the way to the staircase beneath the tapestry entrance.

Gideon swallowed down panic and asked, with as much humility as he could manage, "Are you coming with me?"

"Yes," Gaston said shortly. "I am your escort today." And he reached into his pocket to pull out the amulet.

Gideon flinched. For a moment there, he'd thought his father was extracting the whistle. Gaston saw the gesture and nodded curtly. Good, that nod said. I am in control here.

The two Northwests walked silently through the corridor that connected the Order headquarters to the Northwest Manor. Gaston didn't hand Gideon his amulet, not until they were right outside the door to the memory chamber. Gideon fastened it to his lapel, wishing he could use it to blast everyone out of the way and run away right then and there. But that wasn't an option, not this deep into the Order of the Crescent Eye — not with his father standing right beside him.

Gideon entered the room to see Candy Chiu. He groaned inwardly. Her, again? She was brought down here, what, every week? Her mother, Yingtai Chiu, was an Order member — and one of the more paranoid ones, atthat. Any mention of the supernatural from her daughter, and Candy was hauled down here for a wipe.

"Gideon?" she said in the exact same tone of shock that she had every time she saw him down here. "What is this? Are you here to beat me up or something?"

"No," Gideon said shortly. His amulet glowed dimly as he searched her thoughts. She apparently had seen a hamadryad appear out of its tree. What had she been doing out there? Hamadryads were only found fairly deep in the forest. He dug a little deeper. Turned out she was looking for Dipper. She thought maybe he'd been kidnapped by the magical creatures she kept hearing rumors about.

The more he explored, the more he found. She'd been out there for a long time and seen a lot. Well, Yingtai, for once you're not being paranoid.

Candy gave him a strange look. "Um, Gideon? Why are you staring at me?"