JANUARY 16, 2013

"Take this," said Dipper. He pulled a book out of his pack. "Take this to her. Give it back to her."

Mabel's sketchbook. Gideon took it. "All right." He put the sketchbook in his own pack.

Gideon Northwest and Dipper Pines were both hovering beneath Mabel's moon. Gideon flew with his amulet, and Dipper was riding a peryton named Marigold. Dipper had wanted to follow Gideon all the way up to the moon and help rescue his sister, but Marigold couldn't make it. Despite her large feathered wings, she couldn't get past the strong winds that swirled around the moon.

So Gideon had to go alone.

"Go," said Dipper. "Go save my sister." His eyes were wet, and he fixed Gideon with a hard stare.

"I will," Gideon said. With that, he flew away from Dipper and toward the moon.

Big and blue, riddled with cracks, Mabel's moon was her prison. Last Friday, five days ago, Pacifica Pleasure had stabbed Mabel with a magical dagger and caused her to disappear. Not long after, Mabel's moon had appeared, floating above Gravity Rises and the surrounding forest. Mabel was up there, inside the moon, her life draining away to fuel the township.

Gideon had no idea how much longer she had before it was too late. The township was Bill Cipher's prison, and the demon needed it to steal the life from all ten of his Symbols as it traveled through dimensions. Once it reached Bill's dimension, the prison would dissolve, and Bill would be free to reign terror on the multiverse.

None of the Symbols were dead yet, but that could change at any minute. Mabel had been in her prison for five days. How much time did she have left?

That question weighed on Gideon as he flew up to the moon. The wind whipped around him, trying to throw him out of the sky, but with his amulet he was able to push through it. Gideon's flight was powered by magic and therefore didn't rely on the air to keep him aloft. Still, the wind beat at him as he flew, and he hoped he could get out of it soon.

The only way out of the wind, however, was into the moon. How would Gideon get inside? Would he fly into one of the bright blue cracks? Would he push against it until he got through? Was it even possible to get in?

Soon, he was only a few feet from the surface. The moon was directly above him. Its diameter was at least the length of a football field, and Gideon felt tiny in comparison. The blue glow, especially the brighter blue glow from the cracks, hurt his eyes.

He flew up to the moon and tentatively put a hand on the dark blue surface above him. Instantly, he felt a sharp, burning pain through his glove, as if he had just put his hand on a hot stove. Gideon instinctively dropped his hand. What was that?

He scowled. It was magic. It was the magic that was killing his friend.

He pulled off his glove and inspected his hand. It didn't seem to be truly burned, and the pain faded quickly. That was fine, Gideon told himself. He could deal with the simulation of pain. He put his glove back on, then lifted both hands and pushed on the underbelly of the moon. The pain came again, but he didn't drop his hands. With the power from his amulet, Gideon rose in the air, pushing hard on the moon. With his own strength and the strength of his amulet, he would try to get through.

The pain didn't go away, but neither did Gideon. He kept pushing, gritting his teeth. It wasn't long before his hands sank into the moon up to his wrists.

His hands burned, and he didn't look forward to feeling that way all over his body. But that was the price he'd pay to get to Mabel. He kept pushing, though the pain grew more intense. And as he pushed, he slowly slid through the surface of the moon.

Gradually, he got up to his elbows, then pushed his head through.

His head felt as if it were on fire. Gideon's eyes were closed, and he held his breath. He vaguely wondered if he would black out and fall. But he didn't; he kept flying into the moon. His body begged for release from the burning pain. But Gideon was used to pain, and he bore it.

Then, finally, his feet were inside. Gideon's entire body had passed through the surface of Mabel's moon.

The pain disappeared.

Gideon let out a breath of relief, though he didn't open his eyes. Now that he was entirely inside the moon, the burning magic had dissipated, leaving him hovering in what seemed to be normal air. He could breathe easily in here.

That was good. Hard to rescue someone when you can't breathe.

Gideon opened his eyes, but there was nothing to see but the glow of his magic. It was otherwise entirely dark inside the moon.

His amulet wasn't too bright, but his entire body was also glowing, since he was still in flight. The glow, though dim, was enough to see a bit of the area around him. Beneath him, he could see the dark blue surface that he had just passed through. He wondered if it would hold his weight, but he wasn't curious enough to try standing on it. No more burning pain for him, no thank you.

He looked around, searching for something in the blackness. When he couldn't see anything, he carefully flew through the moon.

"Mabel?" he called.

No response.

It felt awkward to fly around in an upright position, but Gideon could see better this way than he could horizontally. He didn't fly upward, because he didn't want to lose sight of the blue surface below him. But he wondered if he should. This moon was a huge sphere — Mabel could be anywhere inside it. Still, he didn't want to lose sight of the surface and get disoriented.

"Mabel? Where are you?" Maybe it was stupid to call for her. But he did it anyway. Could she respond? Was she unconscious? Was she in too much pain to even cry out? Where could she be in this blackness?

Something came into view as he flew. Gideon squinted, trying to figure out what it was. Before long, his foot bumped into it.

He stopped, frowning. Was that. . . a staircase?

It was. It was a staircase. His foot had hit the bottom stair. Gideon crouched down to get a closer look. It looked like stone. What in the world?

He carefully stepped onto it. It seemed to hold his weight. He released his magic and walked up the staircase, trying in vain to see what was at the top. He was careful with each step and was ready to fly again if he needed to. But the stairs held true, and soon he was at the top.

The landing at the top of the stairs was surrounded by three walls, closing Gideon in. He felt behind him, just to make sure a fourth wall hadn't appeared behind him. It didn't seem that way.

He took off a glove and felt along the three walls. The two on his sides were stone, like the stairs, but the one in front of him felt like metal. Almost like. . .

He pushed on the metal wall.

It opened.

It was a door.

Sunlight streamed through the doorway. Gideon blinked in the sudden light, and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust and see what was on the other side of the door.

Trees. Just outside the door was grass, and a few yards away were trees.

What?

Gideon stood still, his hand holding the door open, and looked around at the new scene. He knew this place. It was the area behind the library. And this door was the door to the headquarters of the Order of the Crescent Eye.

Gideon looked over his shoulder. There was pure blackness behind him, just like before. He was still inside Mabel's moon, right? Then what was he doing at the door to the Order? Was this some kind of simulation?

He thought of the simulated pain he'd felt as he'd come into the moon. It would make sense if this was also an illusion of some kind. Still, the sunlight coming through the door felt so real, and Gideon's body cried out with joy at feeling the sun again. It'd been five days since the sun had disappeared, and he hadn't realized how much he'd missed it.

Focus, Gideon. He didn't dare move away from the door and have it lock behind him and trap him inside this simulation. He didn't know what the combination could possibly be to open it up again. He took a few steps onto the grass, pushing the door open wider, and held it there as he searched for a rock or something he could levitate over here and use to wedge it open.

There weren't any rocks that he could see. What else could he use?

Oh, duh. His pack. Gideon retreated onto the stone landing and let the door close. By the light of his amulet, he rummaged through his pack until he found a flashlight Melody had put in there. He had his amulet for light now, and it was sunny here, so this flashlight had a much better use as a doorstop than as a light source. He opened the door and tried the flashlight as a doorstop.

It worked. He waited a good minute to see if it would slip, and it didn't move. Gideon went through the door and made sure the flashlight stopped it from closing behind him.

Well, he had his escape route. But where was Mabel?

Gideon left the library and went out onto the road. It looked like he was right back in Gravity Rises on a lovely summer day. His coat, sweater vest, and gloves were thick and warm, so he took them off and put them in his pack. His dress shirt and slacks were warm as well, but he always wore long sleeves and pants, even in summer, so he didn't mind.

No one was on the road to see him take off his winter clothes. No cars, no joggers, nothing. That was strange; Gravity Rises usually had a good tourist business in the summer. Tourists came year-round, but especially in the summer when it was warm. So where were they now?

Gideon shook his head. This was a simulation. No one was in here but him and Mabel. Of course there wouldn't be tourists.

If this was a simulation of Gravity Rises, then would Mabel be in the Mystery Museum? Gideon decided to start his search there. He jogged down the road. The warm day made him want to slow down and stroll under the summer sun, but he couldn't let himself get distracted. Simulation or no, Mabel could still be getting hurt, and he had to find her.

He turned onto the path that led to the Mystery Museum gift shop, then changed his mind and ran through the grass to the front door. Normally he wouldn't run through someone else's property, but this wasn't the real Museum.

As he ran, he got more and more anxious. This fake summer day was quiet and beautiful, but it was probably hiding something terrible. He hurried up the porch steps and knocked on the door. Oh. Wait. This wasn't the real Museum, so why would he knock? He needed to get through that door and find Mabel, not wait around on the porch!

Gideon reached for the doorknob.

The door opened. "Gideon!" said a voice.

Gideon froze. Mabel stood in the doorway.

She was wearing a red t-shirt and jeans. She didn't look hurt at all. In fact, there was a smile on her face and a light in her eyes.

"You're early," she said with a grin.

She grabbed Gideon's wrist and pulled him inside.