"Mabel!" I yawned and looked up at Gideon, sitting up quickly and glancing around. It was early, the sun had just barely risen, but Gideon looked like he'd been up for ages.
"What is it?" I asked, shivering. I wasn't a huge fan of all the outdoor sleeping I'd been doing lately.
"Are you hungry? There's a diner in town. I thought we could get something to eat before we go to the library." I nodded.
"Sounds great. I've always kinda wanted to eat there."
Gravity Rises' local diner, Sleazy's Diner, wasn't as astounding as I'd imagined. It was mostly sticky tables and various rodents being chased out of the building, but it had a quaint diner feel nonetheless.
Gideon, I could tell, was uncomfortable from the moment we stepped inside. He tried to hide it very well, but I could see how unsettled he was as we sat at a booth and ordered pancakes.
"You've never been in here before, huh?" I asked once our pancakes had arrived to break the silence.
"No." He admitted, glancing around at the odd assort of patrons. "I feel so... common." He glanced up at me. "That's not too pretentious, is it?" I giggled.
"Not at all, Gids." He sighed and shook his head.
"I don't like it. Sitting here eating waffles when Pacifica is in danger. Not to mention us."
"Why are you so worried about Pacifica?" I asked. "From what I've seen she's a jerk." He sighed and shook his head.
"You don't get it. Her parents forced her into the spotlight. But they never could have expected that this would happen."
"Why did she make a deal with Bill?" I asked.
"To achieve total power."
"I know that, but why?" Gideon shook his head.
"Pacifica's sought after power her whole life. Finding her amulet was just a gateway for her path of madness. She wants to become the psychic she claims to be, an all knowing presence."
"But I thought you said that she is psychic!" I chimed. Gideon nodded.
"Yes, but not that powerful. Do you remember how she accused you of having an amulet?" I nodded.
"Yeah, why?"
"She and I have been testing her abilities. She can't read my mind, and I have an amulet. We believe having the amulets blocks the connection."
"Thats stupid." I said. "How can a rock block Pacifica's magic?" Gideon sighed, clearly annoyed.
"The crystal of the amulet is what gives her the power in the first place. And that's not the point. The point is that she can't read your mind either. And there's nothing she hates more than her own limits." He shuddered as if remembering something painful. "If Bill offered her love limitless power, she'd accept it. Not matter the price."
"But what was the price?" I asked.
"Infirmation about you. Why Bill wants to know things about you I don't know, but the sooner we find out the better." Suddenly, I had an idea.
"Why don't we just ask him?" Gideon sat up.
"What?"
"We can summon him, can't we? And then we can ask him what he wants!" Gideon shook his head.
"Mabel, that is by far the dumbest thing I've ever heard you say. Honestly, it's far too dangerous. He's not likely to reveal what it is he wants to know without demanding answers, and summoning him would give him a clear shot to the summoner's mind. I can't make a deal with him. He's been trying to force me into a deal for too long."
"Well why don't I just summon him then?" I offered. Gideon looked at me, astounded.
"What the hell?" I nodded.
"It all works out! Then you don't have to make a deal with him because I'm the one summoning him! Just let me try, Gideon!" He rubbed his chin and thought about it for a moment.
"Fine. But if anything happens, let me interfere."
"You got it."
An hour later, we were in the woods, Gideon had drawn symbols from the journal around me in the snow as I read the page on summoning Bill.
"You're sure you want to do this?" I nodded.
"Absolutely."
"Fine." Gideon stepped back. "Just chant the words on the page to summon him when you're ready." I gulped and began to read.
"Triangulum, entangulum. Meteforis dominus ventium. Meteforis venetisarium!" A blue light surrounded us as I called out the words. Soon they stopped, as did everything else. I glanced around, noticing some snow that had been disturbed by a squirrel was now suspended midair.
"Well well well! Look what the cat dragged in!" I turned to see Bill hovering in front of me.
"Bill!"
"Pinetree! Say, what brings you here?" Bill asked.
"What is it you want from me?" I asked.
"Ho Ho ho! Let's not forget the facts here. You summoned me, Mabel." He said, his body flashing with an image of me. I shook my head.
"But you made a deal with Pacifica Pleasure. You said you'd grant her limitless power if she gave you information about me. I'd like to know just what sort of information you're after." I glanced at Gideon, who held his journal open, ready to strike. He was frozen except for his eyes, which kept darting from me to Bill. Bill thought for a moment.
"Hmm... You know what? I like you, kid. How's this, I'll let you know what sort of information I'm looking for, no answers required! In fact, you answering these questions for me wouldn't bode well for Pacifica. She wouldn't be able to keep her end of the deal and I'd have to withdraw. But then again, at this pace I may never know what I need." Bill looked at Gideon quickly, then back at me. "Basically, Pacifica wants endless power. In a way, she and I want the same thing. From where we're standing you stand in our way, Mabel. In order to achieve true power, I need to understand you, to truly know the best way to eliminate you. Pacifica only has a fraction of the power I've offered her as of now, but after she gets me the scoop on you I can finally enter this dimension in my physical form and rule your universe! The power Pacifica will have then will still only be a small fraction of what I could give her! But to make her happy I'll give her full control and rule over Earth once I've collected what I need. You." I stumbled back, shocked.
"Me?" Gideon ran up beside me as Bill laughed.
"Not just you Pinetree! I'll also need Lone Wolf over here, as well as several other little pests. Once I've trapped all of you away in my inescapable time prison I will finally have rule over this dimension!"
"You'll never get away with this, Bill!" Gideon threatened. "We'll stop you!" Bill laughed again, this time louder and more menacing than ever. He came close to us, close enough that I could barely see anything but his eye.
"How?"
A few minutes later, Gideon and I sat on a log on the side of the road.
"Gids? I think we should go back to Ford. He may be mad at us right now, but he has so much more experience than us with this type of thing. He can help us." Gideon shook his head.
"I'm not going to ask him for help, Mabel. Not until we save Pacifica." I nodded.
"Okay then. What do we do?"
(A/N) Guess who's back?
I've been meaning to write for ages but only last night did inspiration finally strike!(I've been stuck with Tsaatr for ages.) See you soon!
YOU ARE READING
Northwest-Pines Mystery Hunters
Fanfiction"Why did you insist on your name being first?" "It's an eyecatcher, shut up Pines." When Mabel Pines was sent to Oregon to stay with her genius Uncle, she expected more than simply watching over his fake museum. That is, until she gets an offer to f...
