Gravity Rises (S1)

FE: Part Three

"Mr. Northwest, you have a visitor," said Gideon's butler.

Gideon frowned into his breakfast plate. "Who is it?"

"It appears to be Pacifica Pleasure. Should I show her in?"

Gideon looked up in surprise, then sighed. "No. I'll go out to her." He stood, abandoning his half-finished breakfast. "I'm done with this," he said with a glance to the food. He left the servants to clean up after him and left the Manor.

Pacifica stood just past the gates, shivering in the cold. "What are you doing here?" Gideon asked.

She sniffed and folded her arms. "Good morning to you, too. Can we go inside?"

"No," he said simply.

Pacifica gave him a look like she thought he was the rudest person in the world. "Fine," she said. "I have a question for you."

"Okay."

"Who's Cipher?"

The question completely caught Gideon off guard, and he stared at Pacifica for a split second before assuming a bored look. "Who?"

"Oh, please. You know who it is. I caught that look."

Gideon closed his eyes. Why me? Why now? He'd been wondering if he should show Pacifica the Cipher Wheel, but now it appeared he had no choice. "Where did you hear that name?"

"A ghost."

"What ghost?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, some random ghost that mentioned Cipher. Oh, and he called me a Symbol."

Great. This wasn't what Gideon had planned to do today; but if he tried to dissuade Pacifica, she'd just get more obnoxious. He'd better explain it to her now and save the trouble. Plus, if he showed her, she might finally see the stupidity of her "rivalry" with Mabel Pines.

"There's something I have to show you," he said, suppressing a sigh. "Stay here; I have to go grab something."

"You're going to leave a lady out here in the cold?" she demanded in a very unladylike tone.

He shot her an unimpressed look. At twelve years old (more than a year younger than he), Gideon highly doubted that Pacifica would be a "lady" anytime soon. But he wasn't about to say that: He was too much of a gentleman. "It'll only be a minute." He left her standing at the gate.

Soon, he returned with his winter jacket and his Journal under his arm. To his horror, Pacifica floated just beyond the gate with her shimmering purple astral projection. "What are you doing?" he demanded, resisting the urge to look frantically back at the manor.

"The snow was making me even more cold," she replied, "and someone didn't invite me into his house."

"Turn that off," Gideon hissed. "You're in plain sight!"

"So? Nobody actually notices. Plus, my projection is tiny."

It was fairly small: just large enough to keep Pacifica's feet above the snow. Still, "Trust me, my servants would notice." My father would notice, his brain added. Gideon didn't know how much his father knew about Pacifica and her amulet, but he didn't want to risk anything by showing him. "No amulet magic around my mansion, got it?"

Pacifica rolled her eyes. "Fine. Lead the way to whatever it was you wanted to show me." She didn't get rid of her projection.

"I don't want to show you anything," Gideon muttered silently. He led Pacifica off the path into the trees, then activated his own amulet and rose into the air.