"We're just eating breakfast," Mabel said, closing the door behind Gideon. "Melody made hash brown casserole. Do you want some?"

Gideon looked to his left and saw, to his surprise, a small crowd in the kitchen. Around a large table — larger than the one Gideon was used to in the Museum — sat six people. Gideon recognized Dipper, Ford, Lincoln, and Melody, and the other two people looked like they must be Dipper and Mabel's parents.

"Good morning, Gideon," said Mabel's dad. He had a clean-shaven, youthful face and an amiable smile. "Have a seat."

Gideon blinked. What was going on? He followed Mabel into the kitchen and sat at an extra seat. Melody got a plate for him and served him food, and everyone started eating.

Gideon felt like a fugitive. He sat there at the table, his pack still on his back in case he needed a quick getaway. He pushed his food around and hoped no one would talk to him as he tried to figure things out. It was only he and Mabel here in the prison, wasn't it? Mabel, the one getting hurt, and Gideon, here to rescue her. Why, then, were there other people all of the sudden? There hadn't been anyone outside in the fake town.

And why was it morning? It had been evening when Gideon had flown to the moon. He'd been exhausted. But he'd ignored his exhaustion as he entered the moon, and now. . . now it was gone. It was morning here in this illusory world, and Gideon had energy again as if it really were morning. As if time had reset.

"Gideon? Are you going to eat?" asked Mabel.

Gideon glanced up at her. She seemed normal. Not just normal — happy. Happier than he had ever seen her. Her brown eyes were warm, and the constant ghost of a smile rested on her face. Gideon had expected her to be unconscious or in pain, not happy. Of course he wanted her to be happy, but — wasn't she in a magical prison? Wasn't she dying?

"Gideon?" she prompted.

"Uh, yes, thanks," Gideon said. He put a bite of food in his mouth. It tasted delicious. It seemed real.

Mabel smiled at him, then took a bite of her own food.

"So, Gideon," said Dipper, "where are you taking Mabel? She's been talking about it all morning."

"It's a surprise, Dipper," said Mabel. "He's not going to tell."

"Right," Gideon said, though he had no idea what they were talking about.

"Do you need any of my Journals?" Ford asked.

"Um, no, I know the way," Gideon said. He may not know what they were talking about, but he was pretty good at playing along.

"There's a lunch for you in the fridge, Mabel," said Melody.

"Be back by dinner, all right?" said Mabel's mom.

"Okay, Mom," Mabel said brightly.

Soon enough, everyone finished eating, and people left the kitchen as Melody started on the dishes. Gideon had only eaten a few bites of his food. He took the plate to the sink and told Melody that he already ate, but the food was delicious, thanks.

He followed Mabel out to the living room, where there were no other people. "So," said Mabel, "are you ready to go?"

"Actually, I'm not," Gideon said. "I'm. . . Mabel, will you answer some questions for me? They might sound silly, but I want to hear your answers."

She frowned a bit, but her eyes still had a smile in them. "Sure."

"When did I tell you I had a surprise for you?"

"Yesterday," Mabel said. "You came over and told me you'd found something really cool in the forest, and you wanted to show me. Why?"

He ignored the question and asked, "Do you remember anything about the township or the dagger?"

"What?"

Oh, scrabdoodle.

Gideon rubbed at his eyes. She didn't remember. Gideon was sick of people losing their memories, yet here it was again. Mabel was living in a fake world, and she didn't remember the real one.

"Gideon, is everything okay?" Mabel asked. "You're acting weird."

"Sorry," Gideon said. "I'm feeling out of sorts this morning."

"Can we still go out to the forest? Or do you need to stay here and rest?"

How should he proceed? Mabel still needed saving, but she didn't even know it. "We can still go out," Gideon said carefully, "but I'm not up for the forest today. Let's go to the library instead."

Mabel flinched. It was barely noticeable, but it was there. A shadow passed over her face.

And then it was gone. "I like the library, Gideon, but. . . I really wanted to go exploring in the forest today. Do you think we still can?"

He frowned. "What was that?"

"What was what?"

"You flinched when I mentioned the library."

"What? No I didn't," Mabel said. "Why would I do that?"

Because that's where the entrance to the Order headquarters is, Gideon replied silently, and you've had traumatic experiences with the Order. How he was going to say that when she didn't seem to remember those traumatic experiences, he didn't know.

Before he could decide how to respond, someone knocked on the door. "Oh, who could that be?" said Mabel, and she went to answer it.

"Hi, Mabel, are you ready to go?"

Gideon stared.

It was Gideon.

The boy stood at the door, smiling at Mabel. He looked exactly like Gideon, except that he wore a long-sleeved polo shirt and jeans. Jeans? Gideon didn't own jeans. And he almost never smiled like that. Who was this guy?

"Um," said Mabel after a few seconds of silence. She glanced over her shoulder at the real Gideon before turning back to the fake one. "What. . . what's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Fake Gideon asked.

Mabel glanced over her shoulder again. Fake Gideon followed her gaze. His eyes locked on Gideon's.

"Who are you?" he asked, bewildered.

Gideon stepped forward to answer the question. But he didn't address Fake Gideon; he addressed Mabel. "I'm the real Gideon," he said. "Mabel, I know I'm going to sound crazy, but this world isn't real. It's some kind of simulation. I'm the real Gideon, and I'm here to bring you back to the real world."

She stared at him blankly. His words seemed to go over her head.

"You must be that clone from the other day," Fake Gideon said. "I knew that was going to come back to haunt me."

"Don't listen to him, Mabel," Gideon said. "You've been in this simulation for five days, and if you don't get out soon—"

"I should've dealt with you right away, but I thought maybe you'd leave me alone." Fake Gideon spoke as if Gideon hadn't said anything. "Sorry, Mabel. I got into a situation in the woods that created this clone, and I just left him alone and hoped nothing would happen. Looks like he's found you."

"That's a lie," Gideon said, glaring at Fake Gideon.

"I think you're the one lying," Fake Gideon said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm just here to take my friend exploring, like I told her I would. And you're here to steal my identity and spew conspiracy theories."

Gideon took a calming breath. "Look," he said, turning back to Mabel, "you have to listen to me."

He was going to say more, but Fake Gideon interrupted him again. "No, she doesn't," he said.

"Wait a minute," Mabel said. The blank look on her face disappeared, and she put up her hands. "Okay, so there are two of you. I don't mind that, although it'll get confusing. We should come up with different names to tell you apart."

Both Gideon and Fake Gideon blinked in surprise. That wasn't the reaction Gideon was expecting.

He managed to pull himself together before Fake Gideon did. "Charles," he said. He pointed at Fake Gideon. "You can be Charles. I'll be Gideon."

Fake Gideon, or Charles, wrinkled his nose. "What? No. I'm the real Gideon, so I get to be Gideon. And where did you get the name Charles?"

Gideon raised an eyebrow. "It's my middle name. Which you'd know if you were the real Gideon. Which you're not."

"I don't have a middle name. You're making that up."

"Guys," Mabel said, "please don't argue. I'm sorry, Charles, but he called the name Gideon."

"What?" Charles demanded. "But Mabel, it's me. I'm the real Gideon. I came to show you the surprise I had for you."

"I know," Mabel said. "And I'd love to go with you. And Gideon can come too, if he wants."

Did she say "I know" meaning "I know you're the real Gideon" or meaning "I know you came to show me your surprise"? Gideon was so focused on that question that he almost missed her offer. "Oh," he said, "um, sure. I'll come with you."

"No, he can't come," Charles whined. "And please don't call him Gideon. He's just a clone."

"Clones are people too," Mabel said.

Gideon couldn't tell if she was serious or joking. But the smile was back in her eyes, both when she looked at Charles and when she looked at Gideon. She was taking all this in stride — and she seemed to have completely dismissed what Gideon said about her world being fake.

He was dealing with an amnesiac Mabel who didn't listen to him when he spoke the truth. And not only that, but he had this Charles to get in his way. In the past, there'd been another clone that Gideon had called Charles, and he didn't mind reusing the name now. It would help him think of this guy — this illusion, or whatever he was — as a different person.

"I'll need a way to remember who's who," Mabel said. "Hey, Dipper?" she called up the stairs.

"Yeah?" came Dipper's voice.

"Will you bring down some name tags and a pen?"

"Sure."

Name tags? Gideon had told Mabel her world was fake, and she was concerned about getting name tags for him and Charles? The Mabel that Gideon knew would've been obsessed with the idea that her world was fake — she would've needed to know the truth. But this prison must have strong magic to make her dismiss the possibility entirely.

Dipper jumped down the stairs, the requested supplies in his hands. Gideon hadn't seen or heard him at all since breakfast. In fact, the only time Gideon saw other people was when they were around Mabel. Did that mean they only existed when Mabel wanted them to? If this was some kind of dream, then it would make sense that Mabel, the dreamer, subconsciously controlled the people in it.

"Two Gideons, huh?" said Dipper. "You guys get into some crazy shenanigans."

"Yeah," Mabel said with a laugh. "This one is a clone, we're pretty sure. But we'll call him Gideon, and we'll call the first guy Charles. Will you make them name tags?"

Dipper wrote the names out on the adhesive name tags and stuck them to the boys' shirts. Gideon was reminded of the real Dipper, when he'd named the perytons before going to the Northwest Manor. The Pines twins liked naming things, Gideon supposed.

"This is dumb," said Charles, looking down at his name tag in distaste. The name tag had a picture of a dinosaur in a backwards baseball cap. "Just because he called the name first doesn't make him Gideon."

Gideon glanced down at his own name tag, which had a waffle with buff arms. Did the real Dipper have name tags with these ridiculous pictures on them? Gideon didn't doubt it.

"It's fair, though," Mabel said. "You're still my friend, Charles. That doesn't change."

"My name is Gideon," Charles grumbled.

Mabel ignored that. Gideon was glad she was so insistent on using the name Charles. It would help Gideon convince her that Charles wasn't real. At least, he hoped it would.

"Have fun out there," Dipper said. He went back up the stairs without even asking if he could come along.

"All right, let's go!" Mabel said. "Lead on, Charles." With a grin, she looped her arm in Charles'. Then she did the same with Gideon's.

Gideon blinked. She seemed really friendly with them. Was that just because she was happy and carefree in this world, or. . . was it something more?

He pushed that thought from his mind. It didn't matter right now.

Charles looked unhappy that Gideon was coming along, but he didn't say anything. He led Mabel and Gideon out of the Museum and to the tree line. "Does that amulet of yours work, clone?" he asked Gideon.

"Yes," Gideon replied smoothly. "Does yours?"

"Of course it does. If you want to come, you'll have to follow us." Charles waved his hand, motioning for Gideon to let go of Mabel.

How was Charles going to levitate himself and Mabel at the same time? Gideon stepped back to watch.

Charles' amulet lit up. A teal aura appeared around both him and Mabel. They lifted into the air.

Gideon's eyes widened. He jumped into the air and flew after them. "You can't do that," he called to Charles. "The amulet can only levitate one person at a time!"

Charles looked back at him. "What kind of nonsense is that?" He seemed to have no problems controlling his own flight and Mabel's. The serene look on Mabel's face told Gideon that they did this often.

That shouldn't be possible. Maybe it was possible in this illusory world, but it wasn't possible in real life. Mabel had forgotten that, too.

Gideon flew behind Mabel and Charles, wondering what other abilities Charles' amulet had. If this world acted mostly like the real world, but Charles had extra magical abilities, then would Gideon be any match in a fight against him? Maybe not. After all, the prison magic ran this world. If it had any sort of sentience with which to strategize, it would certainly overwhelm Gideon with things he and his amulet couldn't combat.

On top of that, the magic had some kind of hold on Mabel's mind. Mabel had forgotten the real world and was resistant to reminders of it. Gideon had expected to fight through the moon with his amulet and escape with Mabel as soon as he found her. This situation, however, caught him off guard.

He didn't like being caught off guard.

But he wouldn't give up just because he was a little surprised. He could handle Charles. He could remind Mabel of the real world and convince her to come with him. He could still save her.

Gideon followed Mabel and Charles through the sky. A summer breeze blew through his hair, and it felt real. Ahead of him, Mabel looked happy as she flew beside Charles. That happiness seemed real, too.

But this world wasn't real. Beneath the lovely summer day, beneath the happiness, Mabel was still dying.

Gideon had to get her out of here.

AN: You have my full permission to call Charles "Giddy Fresh"