Dark World

Chapter 9 - The Plan

Pacifica got back into the HMMWV humvee and drove less than a mile before she parked it deep in the woods. She began to cover the vehicle with camo netting making it almost impossible to spot surrounded by the dense foliage. Dipper helped her secure the netting before Pacifica was satisfied and turned to lead the way through the woods. Dipper immediately knew where they were as he began to hear the sound of the falls rumbling softly in the distance. They walked in silence as Dipper contemplated everything that had happened. Not that he minded observing the blonde as she walked ahead of him gracefully in the thin moonlight.

Dipper however was also concerned for Mabel. Not only 'this' dimension's Mabel but 'his' Mabel from his dimension. He wanted to get back to save his Mabel, but even if he somehow could find a way back, which at this point he suspected great uncle Ford was the only one who could help him, he still was left with the dilemma of how to deal with Bill Cipher. He had proved to be dangerous even when he was in a whimsical mood. This time he was bent on exacting revenge and was less likely to be as careless as last time. This worried Dipper as right now he held Mabel as a bargaining chip. That scared him more than anything. What was he doing to Mabel? Dipper pictured her face as she whimpered in fear. That bastard! Dipper shook with rage as he clenched his teeth.

Dipper closed his eyes. He had to think about this rationally. His anger would not help him right now. He had to assess his situation. Right now he had an opportunity to help 'this' Mabel and possibly 'this' Pacifica. Perhaps when he left 'this' Dipper could work things out with Pacifica. He knew it seemed silly and that he had bigger fish to fry with Bill, but he still felt responsible in a sense. Whether this was his dimension's Pacifica or not it hurt knowing she had been isolated and subjected to so much pain and loss. He couldn't just leave here. He couldn't just turn his back on her. Not when she had fallen so far into the dark. Dipper knew revenge was a powerful motive that was effective in getting the job done, but the problem with revenge was after it was exacted you were left with a smoking shell afterward. Dipper knew better than to try and talk her out of it but he knew she needed someone to build her up and pick up the pieces afterward. Whether she was the Pacifica from his dimension or not it still hurt to see the Northwest princess in such pain.

Dipper resolved to find a way to save Mabel and help Pacifica somehow before he left. He just hopped Pacifica's plan was enough to break Mabel out of a secure government testing facility. Why had they even taken here there he wondered? It's not like she had anything out of the ordinary going on with her. Pacifica had told him on the ride there that the government had not found out about the weirdness yet. They did however know about the portal and the journals. All evidence had been disposed of so they could not gather more pages, fortunately, but they had been keeping an eye on the valley. Pacifica told him the creatures had gone into hiding. She had told him that Grenda had summoned the unicorn realm with her deep-voiced chant. While the unicorns were jerks about letting them hide there they really had no choice and the Manitaurs were far more powerful. At least he knew the government would not find out about the weirdness. Perhaps that was why they hadn't rolled tanks and drones into the valley. For now, they were satisfied to just play big brother from their eye in the sky.

The foliage and grass crunched underfoot as Pacifica wove a seemingly random path through the dense undergrowth. Dipper was grateful he was wearing long jeans as he had come from a winter climate. The jeans protected his legs from getting cut up. Also, he knew poison oak and poison ivy sometimes were found in this part of the woods. The falls now rumbled loudly with a thunderous tumult as the rocky outcrop of the lake and waterfall came into view. Dipper now knew exactly where he was. Pacifica took the same path he had last fall when they had explored the cave behind the falls and had found the hidden room leading into the underground temple.