Gravity Rises (S3)

MV: Part Eleven

"I found him," Gideon whispered to Ford. "I don't think you'll like what he had to say."

Ford pursed his lips. "Turn invisible again, sit on the bed next to me, and then tell me."

So Gideon did as Ford asked, sitting beside him on the bed so they'd be able to whisper without being heard by the servants outside the door. Then they got back to talking about Lincoln. "He doesn't want us to rescue him," Gideon said. "Bill really is in his body all the time, and he doesn't think we should risk it. He wants to try possessing someone else so that he can join the Cipher Wheel."

"Will that work? How will he possess anyone?"

"Pacifica can talk to him while he's a ghost, and she's at the Museum, so he's going there to talk to her. Once I rescue Mabel, she and I will come back to the Museum, and I'll do what I can to help Lee possess someone willing, if he can't do it himself."

Ford paused. "Are you the only one going to Mabel?"

"I'm probably the only one who can." It's not that Gideon would mind having Dipper's or Ford's help, but he doubted they'd be able to do anything without magic of their own.

"I don't like it," Ford whispered. At first, Gideon thought he meant he didn't like the idea of Gideon going alone to save Mabel, but then he added, "There's no way to know if the Cipher Wheel will accept him in someone else's body."

"No, but it's the option that's most likely to work. Bill isn't planning on giving his body back anytime soon, and I don't want to even think about trying to kidnap a demon from his servants." Gideon sighed. "Marcus said they hadn't hurt you yet. That's good. But you don't want to find out what happens if they do hurt you."

Ford was quiet. "I don't like it," he said again. "But. . . you're right. His plan seems like the best place to start." He rubbed at his eyes. "You said Pacifica was at the Museum? Where's the dagger?"

"We have it. It's hidden. If we get Mabel back and try the Cipher Wheel, and it doesn't work because Lincoln is in someone else's body, then we have time to figure out another solution. The barrier works — the servants can't even shoot their guns through it."

A small smile came onto Ford's face. "Well, that's a relief. Andrew was worried about making the barrier impermeable to objects." The smile slipped. "Xítway's barrier wasn't."

"What?"

"Xítway. The minotaur in charge of guarding Lee last week. She put up her own barrier spell around the hut, but it was a lot simpler than the one around the Museum. The Northwest servants shot and killed her through the door."

Gideon was quiet. He hadn't known that someone had already died in Bill's attempt at freedom. "That's terrible."

"Yes." Ford took a deep, silent breath. "Okay. We need to get me out of here. What resources do we have?"

Gideon and Ford spent the next hour planning. Gideon told Ford that Lincoln was scouting around the Museum, and he listed their resources: Dipper, maybe Geneva, two stun guns, a few knockout patches, the grappling hook, and the two perytons. Ford's eyes lit up when Gideon mentioned the perytons. He seemed excited to fly with them.

As for what the servants had, Gideon didn't want to go into too much detail about their resources. It was too painful to talk about. It was sufficient to say, he thought, that the servants had guns, knives, and hand-to-hand combat skills, and that they should be knocked out immediately or else avoided.

According to Ford, the servants also had Ford's stun gun and a few knockout patches. That was disturbing news: Gideon didn't think the servants would use real guns to subdue the Symbols (too much risk of killing them early), but they wouldn't hesitate to use the stun gun. Ford didn't know where the stun gun was now, but they had to assume the servants would use it.