Content warning: This chapter contains semi-graphic descriptions of child abuse and torture. The next chapter contains references to the aforementioned topics.

The way was clear until Dipper and Gideon got to the hidden staircase. At the end of a long, dark hallway, the stairs dropped off at a perpendicular angle. Dipper couldn't see the stairs, but he could clearly see the obstacle that lay in front of them.

The servants had hung a large sheet over the entrance to the stairwell. Dipper could see it from yards away. He heard Gideon suck in a breath beside him.

For a moment, Dipper wondered why a simple bedsheet could be a problem. But as he thought it through, he realized that it was a good method for catching someone who was invisible: If Gideon tried to pass, he'd move the sheet, and the servants would be able to shoot him with the stun gun without even seeing him.

Dipper felt a hand close around his wrist. Invisible Gideon tugged Dipper down the hall, away from the stairs, and around the corner. Dipper scanned for servants but saw none. "What'll we do?" he whispered, assuming Gideon had pulled him to a place that was safe to talk.

"I don't know," Gideon said, letting go of Dipper. "This is the first time I'm using invisibility against them. I didn't even know about it until Pacifica used it to sneak into the Museum."

"When was that?"

"Back when she summoned Bill. The point is, I don't know the best way to get past that sheet."

"Can we take a different route?"

"I'm sure they've blocked both routes," Gideon said. "The good news is, it'll spread them out, and they only have one stun gun. The bad news is, any one of them could have it, and if we so much as move in front of the sheet, they'll probably see your silhouette behind it."

"But not yours. Maybe you can look through the sheet and see if you can tell how many of them are on the stairs."

"Okay. Stay here. Shoot anything that moves."

Gideon's soft footsteps retreated. Dipper waited in the silence. It was a disturbing silence, for Dipper thought he should be able to hear Ford crying out in pain as the servants tortured him. Not that Dipper wanted to hear that, but the fact that he couldn't worried him all the more. Was Ford so hurt that he couldn't even cry out? Had the servants shot him with his own stun gun, perhaps, and then locked him away somewhere? What if Ford wasn't where Gideon thought he was in the first place?

Gideon returned. "They don't have many lights on behind the sheet. I couldn't really tell how many there were, but my guess is two."

Dipper thought about that. "What if we go back, and I stay on this side of the sheet, and you walk over to the other side, and we both stick our stun guns between the sheet and the wall and then shoot? That way, they won't know we're there until we're already shooting."

"That could work, if we could see," Gideon said. "I don't know if we'll be able to aim at all from behind the sheet, and with the servants you really only have one chance to catch them by surprise."

"Okay. . . what if I stand in the hall out of sight, shoot the sheet with the grappling hook to push it away, and you stand right behind it ready to shoot?"

Gideon was silent for a moment. "Those both sound like good plans, but. . . I don't know if they'll work."

"Any plan has risk," Dipper said. "Which one do you like better?"

"I guess the first one," Gideon said, "since we have a chance of hitting them with the first big noise we make. But you have to be careful so they won't see your shadow."

"Right." Dipper paused. "Hey, Gideon? Wouldn't we be able to hear Ford? If. . . if the servants are hurting him, wouldn't he be making noise?"

"The room he's in is soundproof," Gideon said. "Either really good architecture or magic; I've never figured it out. Are you worried he won't be in there?"

"They know you'll be going there to find him. Maybe it's a trap."

"It's definitely a trap. It's just a question of whether Ford is there or not. It's been less than twenty minutes since they took him. They haven't had much time to hurt him or hide him. And they don't know where I am; I could be watching their every move, as far as they know. I think they're more likely to have a lot of servants guarding him in the disciplinary, in hopes of catching me, than they are to hide him somewhere else."

Dipper frowned. "The disciplinary? Is that. . . is that what the room is called?"

Gideon was silent again. Dipper tried to imagine his face, but he didn't know what expression it would have. Then, "Don't repeat that to anyone," Gideon said, his voice low and rough. "You didn't hear that."

"Okay." He didn't dare argue.

Gideon made a frustrated noise. "I wish Lincoln were still here," he said. "He scouted around the mansion for me earlier and reported to me in a séance. But I sent him off to the Mystery Museum, and now he's not here to tell me how many people are behind that sheet or what state Ford is in."

"Are there other ghosts you could summon to scout for us?" Dipper asked. "Mabel said there were ghosts here."

"She helped me get rid of the last of them. I could try a séance to see if there are any nearby, but it would take time that we don't have."

"Okay, then we gotta find out for ourselves," Dipper said. "What's the Manor like between here and the. . . the room? If we get separated, which way do I go to find Ford?"

"We're really close. At the base of the stairs is a hallway that ends in a thick grey door. There's another hallway perpendicular to that one, so there are probably servants waiting there. There will be more servants inside the room, too, and the door will most likely be locked. I took the key from my father's key ring after he fell unconscious, but I'll need time to use it."

"So we'll shoot the two servants from behind the sheet, then run down the stairs and shoot the servants around the corner, and I'll fend off any remaining servants while you unlock the door. Sounds like a plan."

"Except the part where they're hard to hit. They have quick reflexes. Your uncle probably fired at them point blank in the minotaur hut and they still managed to dodge."

True. Dipper hadn't thought of that. "But Ford wasn't ready for them. We are. They don't know we're coming, either."

"They'll be ready just seconds after we fire the first shot."

Dipper suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. He was perfectly aware that this wouldn't be easy, that almost anything could go wrong — but it seemed Gideon was already prepared to fail. It was discouraging.

"Okay," Gideon said, his voice heavy despite his quiet whisper. "Let's go get in position. We'll have to shoot the first two servants from behind the sheet, then shoot the next two servants if they come around the corner, all before they manage to hit us."

"Wait," Dipper said. "Wait a second."

"What?"

Dipper held up a hand as he thought through the idea that had just come into his head. Then he smiled. "I have a better idea," he said.

~~~~~

Gideon wasn't very confident about the plan, but he always found one problem or another with Dipper's plans. What mattered was that Gideon agreed to it.

The boys silently got into position on either side of the sheet covering the stairwell. Dipper stood near the edge of the wall, watching his shadow carefully to be sure it didn't extend onto the sheet. He waited, giving time for Gideon to get into position on the other side.

This part of the plan was the same: get into position and, on a signal from Dipper, shoot the stun guns through the edges on either side of the sheet. Dipper hoped they would hit someone, but he couldn't see anything from here. Gideon was a lot more likely to get a good shot than he was. Still, he went over in his head the exact way he'd move his hand and the angle at which he'd point the gun.

The hall was silent. Dipper couldn't hear Gideon or the servants on the other side of the bedsheet. He couldn't hear Ford's screams — if there were any. Part of him wondered if the bedsheets were just a distraction, and the servants were somewhere else entirely, hurting Dipper's great uncle while Dipper failed to save him.

No. He'd be here. They could do this.

He looked to the spot where Gideon was supposed to be and pretended to lock eyes with his invisible friend. Then he gave a sharp nod.

Dipper shoved the muzzle of the stun gun between the fabric and the wall and fired, silently pleading that the blast strike a servant. The sound of a stun gun shot from the other side of the hall told him that Gideon had fired almost exactly when he had.

There was a series of thumps as someone on the other side of the sheet fell to the ground and rolled down the stairs. As satisfying as that was to hear, it was only one person.

There was no time to worry that they'd only hit one servant. Dipper kept firing through the sheet as Gideon moved quickly and quietly back through the hallway. There was a faint rush of air as he passed Dipper. He was on his way to the other path to the disciplinary, to cause more chaos over there. That was the improved plan: to hit the servants from two places at once.

After two more shots, Dipper pulled the gun back from the sheet and stepped away. Just in time, too: The shadow of a hand grasped at the air where Dipper's gun had just been.

"Gideon," said a calm, low voice, "the longer you keep this up, the worse it'll be for you later. Be sensible."

Dipper could see the outline of the man from here, and he wished he could send the grappling hook right into the servant's stomach. But he was waiting for the perfect moment to use the grappling hook, and a blast from the stun gun would dissipate harmlessly on the fabric.

So instead, Dipper swung his leg straight into the man's abdomen.

His foot connected, and he heard a grunt of pain and surprise, but then an iron hand gripped his ankle. Quick reflexes indeed. The bedsheet, disturbed by Dipper's kick and now clutched in the servant's fist, fluttered down from the ceiling as Dipper fell onto the floor. The servant batted the sheet away but didn't let go of Dipper's leg.

Then the sheet fell far enough that there was nothing between Dipper and the servant. Dipper, who had kept a firm grip on his stun gun, pointed it at the servant and fired.

It was a point-blank shot. The servant fell. So did Dipper, both from the kickback on the gun (it wasn't much, but he was already at an awkward angle) and the sudden release of his leg as the servant's grip slackened.

Dipper squirmed out from under the sheet and the servant. There was a hole in the servant's shirt where the stun gun blast had burned it, and the visible skin was red, but the damage done was the least of Dipper's concerns. He heard the distant sounds of Gideon shooting his stun gun at more servants, and he stuck his own stun gun in the waistband of his pants before taking the grappling hook from his pack.

Just as Gideon had said, there was an imposing grey door at the end of the short hallway at the base of the stairs. Another hallway went off to the left. A servant came around the corner and, seeing Dipper at the top of the stairs, aimed a stun gun at him.

But Dipper was already in motion. He shot the grappling hook at the ceiling, and it burrowed through the plaster and caught on the supporting rods with a metallic clank. The servant came into view just as Dipper jumped off the top stair.

He swung down the stairwell.

Dipper extended his feet and hit the servant in the face before he was able to shoot. The servant cried out and fell. Before he could get back to his feet, a quick shot from Gideon knocked him unconscious.

Dipper let go of the grappling hook and stumbled to a stop next to the unconscious servant. To his left, he could see Gideon fighting another servant. Now that there was only one left standing, it was a lot easier for him to stop her with his amulet. A blue glow surrounded the servant; she rose into the air; Gideon shot her in the chest.

All four guards were now unconscious.

Dipper grinned at Gideon. "We did it!" he whispered.

Gideon gave a small smile, but the apprehension on his face didn't fade. He glanced to the disciplinary door. "We haven't saved him yet," he whispered back.

At that, there was a knock on the other side of the door. "Sound off," called a male voice. It was muffled by the door, as if the speaker were yelling from the other end of a tunnel. But Dipper was sure he was right behind the door. "Are you all right out there?"

Dipper looked at Gideon with wide eyes. Sound off?

"The servants have different patterns for knocking on the door," Gideon whispered. "I know a few of them, but we shouldn't guess." He pulled the key from his pocket. "But we can still get in. Keep your stun gun ready."

He carefully and silently inserted the key into the lock. Dipper held his breath. Would the servant hear the lock turning?

"Gideon, if you're out there, I urge you to turn yourself in," the voice called. "You'll be punished, yes, but then you will take part in the glorious cause of our lord. He will be freed, and it will be much better for you if you don't resist him."

Dipper made a disgusted face. He wanted to yell back at the servant that they'd all die if they didn't resist, and that didn't sound glorious at all — but he managed to keep quiet. By the door, Gideon slowly turned the key in the lock, then silently twisted the knob. He held the knob in place and glanced back at Dipper.

Dipper raised the stun gun.

Gideon shoved the door open.

The man behind the door cried out as it hit him. Dipper hoped it got him right in the face. Gideon and Dipper ran into the room, and Dipper took it all in at once: the red-haired servant beside the door, with watering eyes and a murderous scowl; the servant across the room, with a metal sledgehammer in his hand; and Ford, lying crumpled on the floor.

Bile rose in Dipper's throat, but he managed to stay focused. He shot at the servant across the room while Gideon froze the servant beside the door with his amulet. Dipper's first shot didn't connect, but Dipper kept shooting until the servant fell.

The remaining servant started yelling for help, but he quickly fell silent as Gideon's magic forced his mouth shut. "I'll never join you, Marcus," Gideon said. "I'll never turn myself in. Bill won't be freed."

He glanced over his shoulder at Dipper. Dipper nodded, raised the stun gun, and shot Marcus.

Gideon dropped the man's unconscious body on the ground.

Dipper's heart was hammering in his chest. He ran to Ford's side. "Grunkle Ford! Grunkle Ford, we're here!" He knelt beside his uncle, staring at him in horror. Legs should not bend at that angle.

For a moment, he thought Ford was unconscious, but then the man stirred and cracked open his eyes. "Dipper," he murmured.

Gideon came over. "We'll take him to the hamadryads," he said in a shaky voice. "They should be able to heal him."

"You sure?" Dipper whispered.

Gideon nodded. He knelt beside Ford. "I'm sorry, Stanford. This is all my fault."

"No," Ford said, his eyes closed. "Servants' fault. Bill's fault." Then his face screwed up, and his body spasmed. A suppressed scream of pain rumbled in his throat.

"Ford!" cried Dipper. He reached out, not sure what he was going to do, but wanting to help somehow.

Gideon shoved him away. "Go to the door. Watch for more servants. There are still three of them out there somewhere."

"I'm not leaving," Dipper said stubbornly.

Gideon took in a frustrated breath but didn't argue. "Stanford," he said, "I'm going to use my amulet to help you fall asleep. We'll take you to the nymphs, and they'll heal you. Just try to relax."

Ford didn't respond, but Gideon knelt back and stared at him intently, his amulet glowing a soft blue. Dipper tried to keep his eyes on Gideon's amulet and its calming blue light, rather than on his uncle's broken body.

Ford's ragged breathing settled into something a little more rhythmic. After a minute or so, Gideon turned to Dipper. "I think he's asleep," he said.

"Thank you," Dipper whispered.

Gideon looked down. "My sister had the amulet when she was a teenager," he said, his voice slow and quiet. "She used to do this for me when I was in a lot of pain."

Dipper didn't know what to say to that. In his periphery, he could tell that the disciplinary held various tools and instruments designed to cause pain. He refused to look at them straight on, though. He didn't need to know what the servants had done to Ford. What they'd done to Gideon. All that mattered was getting both of them to safety.

"Let's go," Gideon said. He got to his feet and used his amulet to lift Ford from the floor. "Go get the grappling hook and the other stun gun."

Dipper did so, jumping over various unconscious servants as he went. Ford's stun gun lay beside the servant that had used it, and the grappling hook dangled from the ceiling in the stairwell. Dipper got the grappling hook first, then put the extra stun gun in his pack.

Ford floated out of the disciplinary, followed by Gideon. "I have to keep my eyes on Ford to levitate him," Gideon said. "You take the grappling hook and a stun gun and go first, and I'll follow. The library is down this hall and to the left." He pointed down the hall perpendicular to the stairwell. "Keep an eye out for those last three servants."

They made their way through the halls to the library. Dipper didn't see any servants along the way; the last three servants were either prowling the halls elsewhere or standing guard outside the Museum. Or maybe they were with Bill, protecting him in case of an attack.

"Gideon," Dipper said as they went, "I want to go see Lee."

He glanced over his shoulder and saw Gideon purse his lips, though he kept his eyes on Ford. "Lee is going to meet us at the Museum," he said.

"As a spirit, yeah. But I want to go find his body and see if we can get Bill out."

"We can't," said Gideon, "and we want to be out of here long before the servants start waking up."

"But what if we can save both of them?"

Gideon took a deep breath. "We did. Lee said he had been unaware of anything until I pulled him to me in our séance. We saved them both, and now we have to get out of here so we can save Mabel, too."

Dipper nodded. It made sense, but it still felt like they were abandoning Lee if they didn't rescue his body as well as his spirit. "Fine, you're right," he said. Then he took a deep breath of his own, and his next words came out in a rush. "I want to help you save Mabel. We're going to put Ford on Rowan with your mother, and Rowan can get them safely to the nymphs and then to the Museum. I can fly on Marigold up to Mabel's moon."

Gideon was quiet for a moment. "I think you should stay with Ford," he said. "My mother doesn't know very much about the forest."

"But Rowan does," Dipper said. "I trust him. Please, Gideon, let me come."

"Flying there might not be the only problem," Gideon said. "I don't know how I'm supposed to get inside the moon, or how I'll get Mabel out of it. But. . . okay. You can try to come with me."

Dipper wanted to cheer, but he knew they still had to stay quiet. "Thank you."

Gideon finished directing Dipper to the library, which was blessedly empty. One wall boasted a large window that gave a wonderful view of the grounds below. Dipper put the stun gun down and lifted the grappling hook.

Let's hope the perytons are ready, he thought.

He fired the grappling hook, and the metal slammed into the glass with a terrific noise. The window crumpled from its frame.

The boys waited for the perytons to arrive.

Dipper could hear the distant sound of footsteps running to the library, so he handed the grappling hook to Gideon and went to the door, ready to throw it open and stun any servants behind it. Behind him, he heard the sound of beating wings and quiet talking as Gideon levitated Ford onto Rowan's back and Geneva held him in place.

"Dipper, we're ready," Gideon said. Dipper ran back to the window, where Gideon levitated him outside and onto Marigold's back. Then Gideon flew out the window.

They were ready to leave.

The library door flew open. "Stop!" a voice yelled.

But Rowan and Marigold were already flying away from the library, climbing through the air and quickly leaving the Manor behind. Gideon kept pace with them, blue light streaming behind him as he flew.

The cold wind blew past Dipper's face. He glanced at Rowan, then Gideon. Ford was slung over Rowan's back like a sack of potatoes, and Geneva gently held onto his waist to keep him there. Gideon flew horizontally like a superhero, with his arms by his sides and his hair pushed back in the wind. He looked focused, but Dipper could see hints of joy on his face as he flew once again with his amulet.

They'd done it. The Manor had already faded from view, and no servants could stop them now.

They were free.