Gravity Rises (S3)

PP: Part Two

JANUARY 6, 2013

The last two days had been hard, but that was no excuse for Pacifica to be as filthy as she was.

"This is unacceptable, Pacifica," she said to herself, and she forced herself to sit up. "Lincoln may hate you now because you didn't tell him about Stanford, but that doesn't mean you can lay around in bed and cry about it all day. Into the shower with you."

It was the morning after Lincoln had come back from the forest — and then left again to be with the Pines. He had at least had the decency to come see Pacifica before he abandoned her, but only for a moment. Then he had disappeared again to talk to Stanford, and Bill later appeared to tell Pacifica that Lincoln was staying the night at the Mystery Museum. She had been incredulous that Bill would let that happen — but the demon had only shrugged and said, "This night will get Lincoln the closure that he wants, and then he'll be back to helping me."

According to Bill, Lincoln would be back at about ten A.M., and Pacifica had to be there to meet him. So at eight A.M. she pulled herself out of bed, rinsed off the remnants of her tears in the shower, and got ready for the day. Both the night of terrifying gravitational anomalies and the night of fear over what the Pines would do to Lincoln were in the past: Now it was time to move on and face the new day. Lincoln was safe, from what Bill had said, and he would come back soon. Pacifica was determined to act mature when he did.

She dressed in her purple psychic outfit, since it helped her feel confident, and styled her hair in an elaborate updo. Then she grabbed a simple breakfast — oh, how she was looking forward to good cooking now that Lincoln was back — and ate it before heading back into the bathroom and doing her makeup. It had been a while since she'd dressed up, and she felt better already.

But even as she smiled at herself in the mirror, she couldn't banish the fearful thoughts that had been swirling around her mind since last night. What if Lincoln hated Pacifica now? What if Stanford convinced Lincoln to fight against Bill? What if Mabel had charmed Lincoln to like her more than he liked Pacifica?

"Don't think about that right now," Pacifica told herself. "You'll see him soon enough, and you can assess the damage for yourself."

"'Assess the damage'?" said another voice. "What do you think I've done to him, Pacifica?"

Pacifica paused, her mascara brush dangling from her fingers, and glared into the mirror. "I wasn't talking to you, Mabel."

Mabel's spirit grinned widely. "What do you think I've done?" she repeated. She stood in the back of the bathroom, leaning against the wall.

"Don't taunt me," Pacifica said. She forced herself to keep applying her mascara. "Bill told me that Lincoln was safe last night, and Bill can't lie. So whatever you tried to do to Lincoln must have failed."

"Are you sure Bill can't lie?" Spirit Mabel pushed herself off the wall and came closer to Pacifica, who did her best not to flinch. "What if I did hurt Lincoln? What then?"

"Bill can't lie," Pacifica repeated. "Unlike you. Now go away."

"You only know that because Bill told you so," Mabel said. "He could've been lying when he said it."

"It's part of his prison, Mabel — and you're trying to keep him captive. You know as well as I do that he can't lie."

"Then he must have been misinformed about Lincoln being safe," Mabel said in a low voice. "Do you want to know what I did to him, Pacifica? Do you want to know what I did to Lincoln?"

"You didn't do anything," Pacifica said through gritted teeth.

"I tortured him." Spirit Mabel smiled. "I tortured him, and I made Dipper watch. Stanford pinned Lincoln down, and I—"