The gathering outside the Museum was complete. Mabel had never seen so many magical species in one place. It was overwhelming, but also amazing.

She stood inside the magical barrier, watching the myriad of people on the other side. (Glowfly lanterns, magical glowing spheres, and the light of the white "moon" in the sky left everything fairly well lit, though dim.) Other Symbols had left the barrier — Ford was consulting with nymphs and fairies, and Dipper was happily talking to the minotaurs — but Mabel was too nervous to go out in such a big crowd. Ivy had assured her earlier that all the species were calm and respectful, if not friendly. Still, Mabel felt safe behind the barrier, where no one would jostle or step on her.

And there were species that could easily step on her. Perytons, hippogriffs, wolves as big as elephants. . . even sheep-like creatures with thick wool coats and a single glowing horn on their heads. "Unicorn sheep," Dipper had said in delight when he'd first seen them.

Those were only some of the creatures that had gathered. There were humanoids, nonhumanoids, even color-changing smoke beings that sometimes formed faces as they talked. Mabel wanted to go out and talk to them, or feel the hippogriffs' soft feathers, or look more closely at the unicorn sheep. And maybe she would, in a minute. Right now, she was just gathering her courage.

"It's right here, see the sign? And Mabel is here, too. Hi, Mabel!"

Dipper came up to the barrier with a minotaur behind him. To Mabel's surprise, the two grabbed hands and crossed through the barrier together.

"Dipper, what are you doing?" Mabel asked. The minotaur wouldn't have been able to get through without holding onto Dipper, but why did Dipper bring him through?

"Andrew told me to let him in," Dipper said. "Mabel, this is Andrew's oldest son, Enoch. Enoch, this is my sister, Mabel."

"Hello," the minotaur said shyly. His voice sounded young, and he was relatively small compared to the adult minotaurs. He still had a solid build, though, and he looked almost as tall as Gideon and Ford. He wore a grey tunic that stopped above his knees, and the light brown hair on his bovine head was short and looked soft.

"Hi," Mabel said, giving a small smile.

"Enoch is about our age. Well, sort of. I forget how it works." Dipper looked to Enoch for an explanation.

Enoch shrugged. "I'm eight years old. That means I'm about twelve years old from a human perspective. Because you age slower." His voice was careful, like he wasn't very confident about what he was saying.

"He says he's still learning English," Dipper said, "though I think he speaks it just fine. Anyway, weird about the ages, huh? But also cool."

"Yeah," Mabel said. She knew the minotaurs had their own language, but until now she had only met Andrew, who spoke English really well. She hadn't thought about the fact that other minotaurs would still be learning, but it made sense. She widened her smile at Enoch, trying to make him feel more comfortable.

It seemed to have the opposite effect. "I'm sorry," Enoch said hesitantly. "What is the emotion on your face? I don't. . . talk to many humans."

Mabel blinked. Oh, right. Different facial anatomies. From the little Mabel had seen, minotaurs didn't seem to use their faces much to show emotion. She dropped her smile, trying to make her expression neutral. "Sorry. It was supposed to be friendly."

"That is all right," Enoch said. His accent was low, with unfamiliar pronunciation, like saying dut instead of that.

"Why do you learn English?" Mabel asked. "If you don't talk to humans often, I mean."

Enoch stared at her for a moment. "We have to learn it," he said, as if this were obvious. "If a human finds us, we need to be able to communicate, so no one gets hurt."

"Oh. Makes sense."

"So Enoch," said Dipper, "are you going to be doing magic with Andrew when we form the Wheel? He said you're learning some."

"I want to try," Enoch said. "I don't know if I'm strong enough. But I want to help."

"What's it like?" Mabel asked eagerly. "Doing minotaur magic."

"It's like lifting something heavy, I guess," Enoch said after a moment of deliberation. "Different spells take different levels of energy and effort. Trying to break one of Cipher's deals. . . who knows how much effort that will take."

"Even the Cipher Wheel wasn't enough," Mabel said.

"Exactly. Papa is going to lend his magic to the Wheel, and so are a lot of other people, but doing a spell that takes more energy than you have is dangerous, even with a lot of casters. Since my abilities are still growing, Papa and I aren't sure if I should join."

"Why can't you join and then drop out if it's too much?" said Dipper.

"Drop out?"

"Stop casting magic," Mabel clarified.

"Oh. Sometimes you can get stuck in a spell, and you need another person to help you stop casting. Like. . . like if the heavy thing you're lifting falls on top of you, and you can't get it off."

"And if everyone is casting, there's no one to help," Mabel said.

"Yes."

"Then isn't this a risk for everyone?" Dipper asked.

"Yes. It is. But we have to stop Cipher."

The twins shared a glance, and Mabel shivered. "How often do people get, um, stuck?" she asked.

"Not very often. We will also have precautions in place, like counterspells that activate when there's danger."

"That's good," Dipper said. "Well, Mabel, I think we're about ready to try the Wheel again. Ford and Andrew sent us to get everyone, wanna come with?"

"Sure. Who's still inside?"

"Dunno. Let's go see."

Mabel, Dipper, and Enoch went to the Museum. "What is that on the wall?" asked Enoch as they got closer. "Is that. . . Cipher?"

"Oh, yeah," said Dipper. "Wendy spray painted it. It was to protest the Order members and servants who were here for a week."

"That's terrifying," said Enoch.

Mabel agreed. She'd seen the mural a few times since getting back to the Museum, but she'd never looked at it for too long. As she climbed the porch steps to the Museum, she tried to ignore the painted Bill's red eye staring at her.

Once inside, the three companions searched the Museum, with Dipper calling for people as they checked various rooms. They found Fidds and Geneva in the kitchen, Robbie and Wendy in the Hall of Mysteries (their families were already outside; Mabel remembered seeing the Valentino boys climbing onto the unicorn sheep), and Pacifica in the parlor. None of them wanted to go into the parlor to check for Pacifica, but Mabel finally opened the door, and Dipper said, "We're ready," without looking up.

Pacifica seemed surprised to see Enoch, but she didn't say anything, just nodded and left the parlor. "Is she really going to join?" Enoch asked Mabel quietly as they followed Pacifica down the hall.

"She joined yesterday. She seems to be on our side now." Mabel frowned. "Wait, have you met her?"

Enoch rubbed his arm. "I was guarding the dagger when she came to take it. Is the dagger still here?"

"Yeah. It's hidden."

Having gathered the others, they went back outside and went to the open space beyond the barrier. Mabel felt a thrill of excitement as she saw the various supernatural creatures in much better detail. "This is so cool!" she whispered to Dipper.

"Agreed," he said, grinning.

Plenty of people were watching them, including most of the giant wolves. Mabel gave them a nervous smile, though she remembered that Enoch didn't understand when she did that earlier. Oh well. The wolves weren't growling or baring their teeth, so it was probably fine, right?

Dipper pointed to Ford and Andrew, who were standing beside Ivy and some other hamadryads. Some fairies were there, too, which made Mabel feel awkward — after all, the last time she had seen fairies, they were attacking her. Still, she went with Dipper, Enoch, and the others to join Ford.

"Oh, good, you're here," Ford said. Mabel glanced at him, but her eyes were drawn to all the creatures around her. Gideon stood by the giant wolves; he left them when he saw the Symbols gathering. Lee and Melody, who were by the hippogriffs, also came over.

"That's all of us," Ford said.

The next ten minutes were a flurry of activity as the Symbols got back into their circle and the others got ready to cast their magic. Everyone separated into distinct groups by species, and the groups formed another circle around the Symbols.

"Is everyone ready?" Andrew said, his voice magically amplified. "Thank you for your help. The Symbols will join together as the Cipher Wheel, and we'll be able to feel their magic. We'll follow their lead, lending our power as they use theirs." With that, he nodded to the Symbols.

They joined hands. Mabel wondered how long it would be until the Wheel formed this time. There was silence as everyone waited for the multicolored glow to appear.

In the quiet, Andrew spoke to Enoch, using a language that sounded a little bit like English but also had some long vowels and raspy sounds from the throat. Enoch responded with a few words and a nod, and Andrew hesitated a moment before nodding himself. Mabel wondered what they were saying. Maybe Enoch had decided he wanted to join the others in casting magic after all.

"Focus, Mabel," Ford murmured. Mabel looked up at him guiltily.

A few seconds later, the Symbols' hands started to glow. Mabel tried to relax, tried not to think about how cold it was or how many eyes were on her, tried instead to think about Bill and how they were going to defeat him this time.

She hardly noticed when her mind merged with the others' to form the Cipher Wheel.

~~~~~

The Wheel came into being, and they were cautiously optimistic. They were still powerful, and now they had the help of other powerful beings. They could see their own bodies, as well as the countless supernatural creatures that surrounded them. The creatures had sensed the forming of the Wheel and were starting to cast their own magic.

The methods of casting seemed as varied as the species. The hamadryads magically pushed away patches of snow and sat on the frozen ground beneath to access the magic through the roots of their trees. The unicorn sheep stood in their own circle and touched horns. The hippogriffs let out piercing calls. The colorful smoke beings formed intricate shapes. The fairies chanted together. The giant wolves and perytons simply looked intently at the Symbols. Andrew and Enoch spoke foreign words and made small hand motions.

It's not going to work, said a small thought in the Wheel's mind. The deal is too strong.

The Wheel pushed the thought away. Of course it was going to work. This was going to be the most powerful magic cast since the original creation of Cipher's prison.

They travelled to the Northwest Manor, searching for Cipher once again. And there he was, right where they'd last seen him, but sitting on the floor this time. He sat up straighter as he sensed them.

He didn't look very afraid. Resigned, maybe. Or maybe amused. Did he know? That he was completely safe in Lee's body?

No. Don't think like that. The Wheel took hold of Bill with their magic. They could feel the added power of the supernatural creatures, simmering in the back of their mind. It had to be enough.

"You've brought help," Bill said. Apparently he could feel the power, too. The Wheel thought they could sense fear in his voice, though they couldn't quite tell.

They took hold of him with their magic. No reason to hesitate. They started pulling him free.

It was just as hard as last time. Bill grimaced at the feeling, but he didn't leave the body. The Cipher Wheel kept pulling, kept emptying their magic into their efforts. Just like last time, it didn't work.

But they had backup. Their power had reached its limits, but the Wheel drew on the reserves offered to them by the supernatural creatures. More and more power, all flowing from the Wheel, all focused on Cipher.

He smiled.

With a sudden motion, Bill stood up and clapped his hands together. Something shuddered through the mindscape, turning the beautiful energy of the Cipher Wheel into — into something wrong. The Wheel gave a silent cry of distress as their power was seized, twisted, and redirected. Suddenly, instead of pulling Bill out of Lee's body, their power was—

Oh no.

Their power was pouring into the township. The township was moving again — and much faster than it had when Mabel alone was powering it.

The Wheel tried to pull away and stop casting. They had to get out of here; they had to separate; they had to stop — but they couldn't.

They were stuck.

Just like Enoch had told the twins. The Wheel was stuck, trapped by their own magic and this new magic that Bill had created. They kept trying to pull away, but the twisted force was drawing power from them at an exhausting speed. Their struggling grew weaker and weaker.

Bill had a huge smile on his face. His yellow eyes glinted malevolently.

Whatever he had done was working. The Wheel could do nothing to stop him.

~~~~~

With a jolt, Andrew came to himself. His counterspell had kicked in, pulling him out of the Wheel's power.

Immediately he turned to his son. "Enoch!" The calf stood still, his eyes shimmering with power. Andrew grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Enoch, snap out of it!"

Enoch cried out. His eyes cleared. "Papa — what—?"

"The Symbols," Andrew said.

They were still standing in the Cipher Wheel. Their multicolored glow was so bright that it hurt to look at. But there was something wrong with the color. Something dark. They were stuck in whatever dark magic Cipher had cast.

Andrew grabbed Enoch's hand and pulled him over to the Wheel, squinting in the bright light. "Get them out of the spell!" he told Enoch. "Pull their hands apart!"

The two minotaurs grabbed the Symbols' hands and started pulling. If they were physically separated, it would break their power. Andrew tried to pull Lee and Dipper apart, while Enoch pulled on Wendy and Pacifica.

Their grips were like stone. Whatever new magic had them in its grasp didn't want to let go.

"Papa, I can't—"

"Keep trying!" Andrew kept pulling. With a final effort, he yanked Lee's and Dipper's hands away from each other.

There was a crack, and Andrew's ears popped. The colorful glow flared and then disappeared.

The Symbols cried out, just like Enoch had. With the connection broken, all of them slammed back into their bodies, and some of them lost their balance and fell to the snow.

Andrew gave them a moment to come back to their senses. Lee and Dipper breathed heavily beside him, and Dipper clutched a hand to his chest. Andrew realized he may have broken the boy's fingers.

Ford was the first to gather himself. "Is everyone okay?" he asked. He looked around at the others: half of them sitting dazed in the snow, the other half swaying on their feet. But everyone seemed all right. All their eyes were open, at least, except—

"Mabel!" Dipper shouted suddenly. He ran a few steps to his sister, who appeared to be unconscious in the snow. "Mabel, wake up!"

Ford dropped to his knees beside Mabel and felt for a pulse. "She's alive," he said. "She's breathing."

"She already lost some of her life force!" Dipper said. "She can't lose any more!"

Ford lifted Mabel into his arms. "Ivy," he called. "Ivy, we need you!"

The nymph rushed over, looking unnaturally disheveled. Everyone had been casting, helping the Wheel with their magic, and all of them had gotten caught in Cipher's attack. Andrew didn't know if the others' counterspells had pulled them out or if they'd been stuck until he'd stopped the Wheel, but either way, everyone was disoriented.

Thankfully, though, Ivy had the presence of mind to take Mabel from Ford and take her into a nearby tree. Dipper watched helplessly as his sister disappeared. "She can't lose any more life force," he whispered.

"She'll be okay." Ford gave Dipper a hug. "Ivy will help her. She'll be okay."

"Andrew, did you stop us?" said Lee. "Did you get us out?"

Andrew nodded. "I pulled your hands apart. Are your fingers okay?"

Lee flexed his fingers. "Sore, but okay. Thank you. That was—" He stopped, unable to describe it.

"I know."

"How did Cipher do that?" Ford demanded, leaving Dipper and marching up to Andrew. "He doesn't have the dagger. He shouldn't have been able to move the township!"

Andrew looked up at the sky. Sure enough, the stars were completely different. They were in a different universe — but how many had they crossed?

"Andrew?" said Ford.

"I don't know," Andrew said. "He shouldn't have been able to do anything."

"I didn't see any spell, not before it started," said Pacifica. "We humans need external objects to cast magic — like candles or complex diagrams. But there was nothing there. Just him alone in a room."

"Nothing?" said Andrew. Only the Cipher Wheel would've seen the Manor.

"He stood up and clapped his hands, but that was it," Lee said.

"What was that?" another voice demanded. Andrew turned to see the fairies flying up to him. "You set us up, Andrew! You got everyone together to cast magic, and it put us right where Cipher wanted us! Why didn't you prepare for him to do something like this? We could have all died!"

"He wasn't supposed to be able to do anything like this," Andrew replied. "He's powerless in a human body."

"Clearly he's not powerless," the lead fairy said. "He found some kind of dark human magic to use against us."

"She's right," Pacifica said. "I don't know what that magic was, but it was human. He must have found the instructions for it in some book from the Order library."

"But like you said, he didn't have any way to cast it," said Gideon, coming over to join the conversation. "He didn't have any kind of diagram or amulet."

"Right," said Pacifica, clearly baffled.

"Well, he still did something," said the fairy. She turned to Lee. "And you brought all of us here to get caught in it, when you simply could've—"

"Don't, Ava," said Gideon loudly. "Not here."

Pacifica glanced at him in confusion, and Andrew's stomach twisted. The girl didn't know about Lee's plan. But she shouldn't learn about it from an angry fairy, so Gideon was right to interrupt.

Ford seemed to understand what the fairy was about to say; his face was twisted in fury. Andrew hurried to say something before he could. "I'm sorry, all of you," Andrew said to the fairies.

"If you want our help at the Manor," Ava said, "you'll have to commit to the other plan. We won't put ourselves in danger for risky alternatives."

It was only then that Lee seemed to realize what she was talking about. His eyes widened; he looked panicked.

"That's enough," Andrew said firmly. "We couldn't have foreseen what happened, and I've already apologized. If you're going to leave, then do it, but don't attack the humans."

"This isn't attacking, Andrew," said Ava. "This is giving an ultimatum." She glanced around at the other fairies, and they all nodded, coming to some consensus. "Come and get us if you're going to do the sensible thing," she said. "Goodbye."

With that, the fairies flew away.

"What is she talking about?" asked Pacifica. "Lincoln? What's wrong?"

Lee seemed to have trouble breathing. Instead of answering, he simply drew Pacifica close, wrapping his arms around her.

The other creatures had seen the fairies leave, and they all wanted to talk to Andrew at once. He left the Symbols, amplified his voice, and apologized to them all for the danger they'd been in. "It seems everyone is safe," he said. "I'm glad. And I'm sorry. We had no idea Cipher would be able to do anything like that."

"How far have we gone?" asked a hamadryad. "While you were pulling the Symbols apart, I was watching the sky. The stars were changing every moment."

Andrew felt a thrill of fear. "I don't know," he said.

People started murmuring to each other, or looking into each other's eyes to speak telepathically, depending on the species. "Listen, everyone," Andrew said. "This doesn't change our plan. We still need to go to the Northwest Manor and attack. The fairies left because they didn't want to take the risk, but we are all duty-bound to fight against Cipher. I don't know what dimension we're in, but I know we're a lot closer to Cipher's destination, and it's even more important to stop him."

One of the giant wolves pushed a thought into Andrew's head. What if Cipher can corrupt any magic used against him? What if going to fight him gives him more opportunity to attack?

"The wolf has a point," said one of the smoke beings. They spoke by creating sound waves like whistling wind. "We were all in one place today, and that allowed Cipher to use our magic for his journey. If we are all in one place at the Manor, how will that be different?"

"It was the Cipher Wheel," Andrew said. "Cipher can only take energy from the Symbols, and your magic was being used by them. If you use your magic on your own, he won't be able to take it from you."

"How do you know that?" demanded a dryad. The dryads looked a lot like the hamadryads, but a bit shorter. Plus, the hamadryads were only female — this particular dryad was male.

"I know how the prison magic works," Andrew replied. But with those words, a shiver ran down his spine. He knew how the prison magic worked — but hadn't Cipher used the Wheel's magic to move the township, when Andrew thought that was impossible without the dagger? Maybe Andrew didn't know how the prison worked. The thought was terrifying.

"You didn't anticipate this," the dryad said, folding his arms. "I don't think you know as much as you think you do."

"Well, I'm the guardian of the prison," Andrew said, trying to stay calm. "If there's something I don't know, then no one does."

"Except Cipher."

"Maybe so," Andrew said.

More murmuring.

"Look," Andrew said, "we're all at risk here. I haven't pretended otherwise. We'll be at risk if we sit here and wait for Cipher to find a way to finish his trip, and we'll be at risk if we take the fight to him and try to stop him. We don't have time for the first option: Cipher can play the long game, whereas we are limited to how long this forest can survive in a bubble, cut off from its world. But if we take the second option, at least we can fight on our own terms."

The dryad didn't look convinced, and neither did some of the others.

One of the hamadryads spoke up. "This is the reason we're here in the first place," she said to the crowd. "The reason our ancestors came from our home dimensions. To fight Cipher. If the guardian of the prison thinks we should go fight him at the Manor, then I say that's what we do."

Andrew nodded to her in thanks.

"Easy for you to say," said a smoke being. "Your tree is in this section of the forest. You won't be coming."

The hamadryad looked embarrassed. It was true. The hamadryads usually had access to the whole forest; but with the rifts disrupting the network of tree roots beneath the forest floor, each hamadryad was limited to her own island.

"The fairies spoke to the hamadryads around the Manor," Andrew said. "They will be joining us. Either way, she's right: This is our duty."

"We'll have to wait until the Symbols are up for it," another hamadryad said. "Ivy is still in the trees with Mabel. The others probably aren't feeling very strong right now, either."

"Why wait?" said a female dryad. "The Symbols are the ones Cipher can attack, according to Andrew. They're a liability. We should go, neutralize Cipher, and send word so they can form the Wheel again here."

"Absolutely not." It was Ford who spoke. "We're coming."

"Right," said Lee.

The dryad had a point, Andrew had to admit. But Ford obviously wanted the Symbols to go so they could try the Wheel multiple times in hopes that something would work without killing Lee. And Lee probably wanted to go to make sure that Andrew did what he had agreed to do, on the high chance that none of Ford's attempts worked. Who was Andrew to deny them?

"They should come," Andrew said.

Multiple people started arguing or demanding he explain why, but they were interrupted by the reappearance of Ivy and Mabel from the trees. Mabel looked drowsy and disoriented, but she was on her feet.

"Mabel!" Dipper ran over to his sister.

A moment later, Enoch came up to Andrew. "I'm glad she's all right," the calf said.

Andrew nodded.

"I healed Dipper's fingers, by the way," Enoch added.

"Oh, good," Andrew said. "Thank you for doing that." Minotaurs couldn't do much by way of healing, but Enoch could at least do this.

Ivy approached Andrew. "She's exhausted," she said. "She's probably going to sleep for. . . well, for a while. I don't know when she'll have the strength for the Wheel again. Or when any of you will," she added with a significant look at Ford and Lee.

"We'll be fine," Ford said tersely. "And we'll need Mabel's help as soon as she's ready. When do you think that will be?"

"Ford, don't be like this again," Dipper said. Andrew turned to see him and Mabel standing behind him. "It wasn't cool when you tried to force Mabel to help get the first Journal, remember?"

Ford let out a long breath, clearly annoyed. But he stepped forward and put a gentle hand on Mabel's shoulder. "Get some rest," he said.

Mabel nodded and gave her uncle a small smile. She and Dipper slowly made their way back to the Museum.

Andrew turned back to the crowd. "Things didn't go as planned today," he said, "but we can still move forward. Thank you for coming, and thank you in advance for helping at the Manor. The Symbols and I will go back inside, and we should all get some rest. Make camp here, or go home if you can. We'll plan more in the morning."

"How do you know what time it is?" said a dryad, glancing at the unchanging sky.

"The humans have devices that tell the time without the sun," Andrew said.

He, Enoch, and the humans bade the others good night and went back to the Museum. Andrew could see annoyance and fear in the people they were leaving behind, but they would be fine. Although. . . "Enoch," he said, "go and tell Kálux that there are ten of Cipher's servants staying nearby. Tell him to warn everyone else, just in case the servants try to attack." The hamadryads knew about the servants (who hadn't caused any problems so far), but it was best to make sure everyone knew. Enoch nodded and ran back to the group of minotaurs to deliver Andrew's message.

"Andrew," said Gideon once they'd gone inside, "we should send people to scout around the Manor. It would've been best to have the fairies do it, but, well, the perytons and hippogriffs can instead. They can see if the servants have defenses we don't know about."

"Good idea," Andrew said.

"Gideon," said the boy's mother. She looked worried. Gideon glanced between her and Andrew, unsure of what to do.

"When you have time, you can go outside and organize a patrol," Andrew said.

Gideon nodded and went with his mother to go sit on the couch. "What exactly happened out there?" Andrew heard her ask.

Behind Andrew, the door opened, and Enoch came inside. "They know about the servants," Enoch said.

"Good, thank you," Andrew replied.

Enoch nodded, then looked into his father's eyes. "Thanks for getting me out of the spell, Papa," he said. "That was. . . that was really scary."

Andrew hugged his son. "I'm glad you're safe," he said. "I'm glad everyone is safe."

"But we still have to go fight Cipher," Enoch said. "If he could steal our magic like that, what else can he do?"

It was a fair — and worrisome — question. Andrew simply hugged Enoch tighter.

"I don't know," he said, and he hated hearing those words from his own mouth. "I really don't know."