Are You Sure You're Free?

Chapter 11

Ever since Great Uncle Ford was brought back here, summer has been amazing! It's always nice to have someone else who understands you around.  Yes, Mabel's my twin but I can't shake the feeling that I'm just a bit smarter than everyone else-no, I shouldn't be saying that.  But after that whole inter dimensional rift talk I had with Ford about a week ago, I've been a bit more skeptical around Mabel. I now know that I have to be cautious about what I say around her.

"Alright, Grunkle Stan's gotta have some decent board game we can play," I said opening a closet door.

"Let's see," Mabel dusted off the board games stacked on top of one another, "Battle-Chutes and Ladder-Ships? Necrinomiconopoly? Don't Wake Stalin?"

"Hey, what's this?" I pulled up a board game and read it out loud. "The last players who opened this box never made it out alive."

"That sounds like a good game-"

"This should take up the next 21 minutes," we said at the same time.

"Family meeting! Family meeting!" Ford called from the dining room. That's strange, he hardly ever does family meetings. Actually, he's never done one.

"Ooo! Mysterious scrolls and potions! Are you going to tell us we're finally of-age to go to wizard school? Is there an owl in this bag?" Mabel asked, grabbing one of the bags that laid on the table.

"No. I can assure you if there was an owl in this bag, he's long dead." Mabel frowned.

We approached the table and sat down.  Ford was looking through his papers and pulled one up.

"Now tell me, children.  Do either of you recognize this symbol?"  He held up an old paper with Bill Cipher, clearly drawn onto it.  Mabel and I gasped.

"Bill," I finally said.

"You-you know him?"  Ford spoke up.

"I-I um," my eyes began to water.  I couldn't bring up the horrific events of the past, not in front of Ford.

Mabel began to rub my back and hug me.  I began to cry.

"What happened?"  He came closer.  As he neared me, I began to shake.

"Dipper? Are you okay?"  Mabel asked me softly.

"No.  I don't want to think about it!  I don't want to talk about it!"  I looked up at the man, now only a few feet before me.  Why was I so afraid of him right now? 

Suddenly, out of now where, he lunged at me and pinned me to the ground!  Mabel was standing at his side, looking as if she was a part of this strange attack.

"Agh! Ford, what're you doing!"  He was now on top of me.

"Get out of his body, Cipher!"  He shouted.  His fist was right in front of my face.  I squinted my eyes shut, awaiting pain.  When it didn't come, I opened my eyes again only to be greeted by the blinding light of a key-chain flashlight.  He sighed and got off me.

"I'm sorry, it's just, something was wrong with your eyes."  Ford wasn't the only one looking at me suspiciously.  Even Mabel was glaring.

"I-I'm fine! I swear!"  But even my own voice sounded a bit, echoey.

"Are you sure?  You didn't look too good for a moment," Mabel said.  "Or sound too good."

"No, I'm okay," I replied without a hesitation.

"Okay. Um, Mabel? Would you mind gathering materials to protect the shack from Bill?"

"Of course!"  She replied happily.  "What do I need?"

"Let's see," he opened the journal and read out loud.  "Three moonstones, some mercury, and,ugh, unicorn hair," he said with disgust.

"That's not like, rare is it?" I asked unsure.

"It's hopeless. Unicorns reside deep within an enchanted glade, and their hairs can only be obtained by a pure, goodhearted person who goes on a magical quest to find them."

"AAAHHHHH!!!" Mabel screeched with excitement.  "Grunkle Ford can I please go on this quest? I am literally obsessed with unicorns!  My first word was unicorn, I once made my own unicorn by taping a traffic cone to a horse's head! Are you even looking at the sweater I'm wearing right now?!" She pointed out her sweater with a vibrant unicorn stitched onto the front.  "Not to mention that I'm probably the most pure of heart person in this room."

"That's true."

"I can't argue there!"  Ford and I agreed.

"So can I please, please please go on a mission to get that hair? I'll give you my blood!"  She pleaded.  Wow. She was really pumped about that unicorn trip.

"Very well, but you'll need this," he handed her journal number one, "and this," along with a crossbow.

"I haven't been in this dimension for a while, it's okay to give children weapons, right?"

"Candy, Grenda, Wendy! Clear the afternoon!"

Mabel left the room on her phone, crossbow and journal in hands.  Ford and I were left alone.  I was the first to break the silence.

"So what're the odds she gets that hair?" I said with a straight face.

"Unlikely.  I've dealt with unicorns before and if I had to describe them in one word it would be, frustrating."  He quickly replied.

"So, what're we gonna do about Bill?"

"Follow me."  He began walking towards the vending machine and used his watch to unlike it.  I followed him downstairs to the-second floor?!

"Welcome to my private studies," he began,  "a place where I keep my most ancient and secret knowledge.  Even your uncle Stan doesn't know about this place!"

I followed him into the illuminated room and noticed a curtain covering something.  I was about to open it but Ford interrupted me. 

"If we can't Bill-proof the shack we're gonna have to do the next best thing.  We're going to have to Bill-proof our minds." 

He opened a drawer and pulled out a large, metal helmet.  I gasped.  It was kind of scary looking.  I didn't know what it was.

"Is this gonna hurt?"  I waited for an answer.

"... No," he hesitated.

A/N: yes, that's my own art from a while agoXD.  I know it sucks but it was fun to make.  Truly sorry I haven't updated in a while. I'm not busy I'm just lazy.  It's okay, you can get mad at me if you like!  Merry Christmas and happy New Year! <3   ~Rachel