Gravity Rises (S3)

PP: Part Five

It was Mabel who triggered Ford's memory about June.

They were at the breakfast table, eating Melody's delicious pancakes and sausage. Ford had been talking about their plans for the day: take Melody's list of questions, pack some lunches and the Journals and whatever else they needed, and leave for Juniper's tree. They'd get whatever answers from June that they could, and they'd ask her to take them to anyone else that could help them, including the minotaurs if there was time. And, if there was time, Gideon could also go look for the Northwest's Relief.

Mabel was glad to know the plan, but something felt wrong. "I can't help but worry that Bill will use this information against us somehow," she said. Then she sighed. "Why can he see into our heads? It's not fair."

Ford dropped his fork.

Mabel and Dipper jumped. "What is it?" asked Gideon.

"See into our heads," Ford repeated with wide eyes. "He can see into our heads."

"But not yours," Dipper said. "You have that metal plate."

Ford's eyes widened further. "That — that's it."

"What do you mean?" Mabel's pulse quickened. She knew what this was: Ford was remembering something. Was it the thing he was trying to remember last night?

"My metal plate," Ford said. "June was the one who told me about the metal plates! She took me someplace with other nymphs, and they put the metal plate in my head."

Gideon leaned forward on his elbows. "It was her idea?"

"Yes. And she was the one who told me about Bill's true nature. But. . ." He frowned. "I still don't remember much of what she said."

"Stanford," said Gideon, "is there a chance that I could block Bill from my mind, too?"

Ford blinked. "We can certainly ask. In fact, we should just ask for all of you. I don't know if they'll be able to do it on children, but we might be able to work something out."

"I dunno if I want a metal plate in my head," Dipper said. "Although it would make some pretty cool drumming noises."

"Let's not perform surgery on children, Ford," said Melody from her position at the pancake griddle.

Ford put his hands up. "We'll just ask what our options are. Besides, I don't think it was surgery."

"They got it inside of you somehow," Melody said as she brought a new plate of pancakes to the table (from which Dipper promptly stole half the contents). "Magical surgery is still surgery in my book."

"We'll just ask about our options," Ford repeated.

Mabel's stomach flip-flopped nervously. Could she get a metal plate in her head, just like Ford? Would she be willing to get one? It would mean blocking out Bill, but was there any other option?

Calm down, Mabel, she told herself. They would find out their options later. No one was getting a metal plate until they were sure that it was the best plan.

It took Mabel, Dipper, Gideon, and Ford a few hours to prepare to leave; then, they said goodbye to Melody, donned their winter gear, and left for the forest. They went out Ford's lab door so that nobody would see them from the road — not that it would do anything to stop Bill from seeing them, Mabel thought. But there was nothing she could do about that at the moment.

The day — January seventh — was beautiful. It was hard to believe that it was only January seventh, but Mabel suspected that the time bubble would be messing with her mind for weeks, if not months. Their clocks weren't even correct; she had to mentally add three and a half hours whenever she looked at the time. Grunkle Lee had said that he would try to get the correct time to spread through town, but it had yet to reach the Mystery Museum. For now, Mabel would have to deal with the jolt of confusion she got whenever she looked at a clock or thought about what day it was.