A raspy voice came from across the room. "Water."

Melody looked up from her book. "Water," Fiddleford rasped again. His left eye was open, staring at Melody. His right eye was squeezed shut.

He was awake.

Melody jumped into action. She stood, dropped her book on her chair, and crossed the room to where she had a pitcher of water on the dresser. Then she poured a cup of water and took it to the left side of the bed. "Do you think you can sit up?" she asked Fiddleford.

He blinked his left eye and said nothing.

"Okay, let's try together." Melody set the cup on the bedside table and reached for Fiddleford. "I'm going to help sit you up, okay, Fiddleford?"

"Water," he whispered.

Melody put her arm under his right shoulder, the one farther from her. "Can you roll over towards me?" she asked. He moved to roll onto his left shoulder, and she supported him by pushing up on his right side. "Okay, now your legs," she said. She put her right arm under his left shoulder and around his back, then used her left hand to push the blankets back until his legs were uncovered. With her left arm hooked under Fiddleford's knees, Melody bent them towards his chest. The fabric of the hospital clothes — which Melody had changed Fiddleford into yesterday — felt soft on her fingers.

"We're going to sit up now, okay? I'll help you up and move your legs off the bed. On the count of three. Ready? One, two, three."

Melody pushed up on his left shoulder while moving his legs so that his lower legs hung off the bed. She kept her arm around his back once he was upright, and he leaned against her. "Water," he said again.

"I have some right here." She reached across with her left hand to get the cup, and thankfully the awkward maneuvering didn't spill the water. "Drink slowly, okay? If you're having trouble swallowing, stop drinking."

She held the cup to his lips and tipped it back gently. Fiddleford reached up, wrapped his hands around hers, and drank noisily — desperately — from the cup. Soon he had drained the whole thing without choking or spitting out any of it.

"More," he said. His voice was slightly stronger.

"Okay. I'm going to lay you back down."

"I can sit up," Fiddleford said slowly.

"Are you sure? Here, I'm going to let go for a second, and I'll catch you if you can't stay up." She pushed him up gently, then moved her arm back a bit. She fully expected him to fall onto her arm — he probably thought he had more strength than he actually did.

Fiddleford didn't fall.

"More water," he pleaded.

With wide eyes, Melody took the cup and refilled it, bringing the pitcher back with her in case she needed it again. Fiddleford stayed upright. She set the pitcher on the bedside table, put her arm around Fiddleford's shoulder again, and brought the cup of water to his lips. He tried to take it from her hands, but she didn't let go. She tipped the cup slowly until Fiddleford had once again drained it.

He swallowed, then let out a sharp burst of air. "Thank you."

"Do you want more?"

"Not. . . not now." Fiddleford leaned back onto Melody's arm; he was already losing strength.

"Okay, let's lay you back down," Melody said. She put the cup back on the bedside table, then hooked her arm around Fiddleford's knees. She helped Fiddleford lift his legs back on the bed, helped him onto his left shoulder, and helped him roll onto his back. "Do you want the covers?" Melody asked.

Fiddleford nodded, so Melody put the bed covers over him. "There," she said. "How do you feel?"

"I. . ." He seemed lucid enough to have a conversation, but he also looked tired. "Where am I? Who are you?"

"My name is Melody Ramirez. I'm a nurse, and I'm going to help you. You're in the Mystery Museum. Do you know where that is?"

Fiddleford blinked his left eye. "I. . . I don't know that place."

Oh, right. The Museum wasn't called the Museum when Fiddleford was last here. "It's another name for Stanford Pines' house," Melody said. "Do you remember Stanford Pines?"

Fiddleford's eye widened. "Stanford. He. . . he wanted to know where Stanley was. . . but I don't know. . ."

"It's okay," Melody said. "We found Stanley. He was here just this morning. It's okay."

"He was — he was here?"

"Yes." Lee had left at ten A.M. this morning, and now it was about two P.M. "He had to leave, but he was here."

"Then. . . then does Stanford know. . . ?"

"We know about the amnesia," Melody said. She kept her voice calm, despite the sadness the words brought her.

Fiddleford squeezed both eyes shut. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry."

Melody felt the urge to continue on this subject — mainly so she could find out why Fiddleford would do such a thing as erase Stanley's past — but she focused on more urgent matters. "I want to help you, Fiddleford," she said, "but I need to know what you need. Can you tell me more about where you were before we opened the portal?"

He didn't respond. For a moment, she thought he had fallen asleep again, but then his left eye opened. "Is. . . is Stanford here?"

"No, he's gone right now," Melody said. Ford and Dipper had gone to talk to Robbie and Wendy about the Cipher Wheel. "Can you tell me about the other dimension, please?"

"I want to talk to him."

"Later," Melody said. "He'll be here later. But I can help you more now if you answer my question."

Fiddleford squinted at her from under his bushy white eyebrows. His right eye was still closed. "Your question?"

"The other dimension. What happened there?"

"It. . . it was empty," Fiddleford said.

"You said that when we first brought you back. What did you do? How did you survive?"

"I didn't. . . do anything. I just. . . just floated there. . . ."

"Floated there? What do you mean?"

"Just. . . just floated. . . in the emptiness." His left eye closed, and his voice slowed down.

"Stay with me, Fiddleford," Melody coaxed. "Are you trying to tell me that you stayed in one spot? For thirty years?"

No response.

"Fiddleford?" Melody leaned down and checked his pulse and his breathing. His heartbeat was steady, and his breathing had settled back into the rhythmic sound of sleep.

With a sigh, Melody took the cup and the pitcher back over the dresser, picked up her book, and dropped back into her chair. She was more baffled than ever. Fiddleford was alive, and he even seemed fairly strong — but what had happened in that other dimension? He made it sound like he hadn't even moved in thirty years. But if that were the case, then he would have starved. He would have died from dehydration. His muscles would have atrophied away until he didn't have the strength even to swallow, much less to sit up on his own.

Yet he was alive. And he'd both swallowed and sat up by himself before he'd lost energy and fallen back to sleep. He'd managed to hold a somewhat lucid conversation with her, too.

Melody dropped her book in her lap and put her head in her hands. "I don't know what to do," she whispered to herself. Yes, she was a nurse; and yes, Fiddleford seemed to be doing okay so far; but how was she supposed to help him if she had no idea what he had been through? No one had ever trained her on how to treat a patient who had just come from another dimension. He could be suffering from anything, and Melody had no way to know or to help him. He could even have brought a foreign disease back with him, and there would be nothing she could do to stop it or even identify it.

Before Lee had left, he had suggested that Melody go find the nymphs and ask for their help. It was a good idea — Melody certainly needed the help — but she wasn't sure how she would go about that. She didn't feel comfortable leaving Fiddleford alone while she looked for the nymphs, and she was hesitant to send Ford while he was still hurt.

But, well, he'd probably go anyway. They needed help from the creatures of the forest — help with more than just Fiddleford's condition. Melody shouldn't stop Ford from going to ask for that help.

She wondered how Ford and Dipper were doing with contacting Robbie. Were Greg and Janice at their home with Robbie, or had they gone to the Order to join Lee? They wouldn't hurt Ford if they had the chance, would they? They were bound to be angry at him for what he had done to them the past few days: punching Janice in the face and leaving Greg unconscious in the UFO. Melody could only hope that Ford's presence at their house wouldn't incite more violence.

Hope. Melody hoped for a lot of things right now. She considered herself an optimistic and hopeful person, but she also knew it was important for her to work towards those hopes. Yet, at the moment, it didn't seem like she could do much of anything. It made her feel useless.

She hated feeling useless.

She sighed and dropped her hands to her lap. All she could do right now was watch over Fiddleford. She would do everything she could to help him. When Ford got back, she'd talk to him about going to find the nymphs.

She could only hope that Ford would get back safely. She could only hope that the nymphs would be willing to help them. She could only hope that Fiddleford would be okay.

And while she hoped, she would do everything she could to make her hopes a reality.

~~~~~

Robbie was sitting in his room at his desk, hitting his drumsticks absently against the wood, when he heard the commotion at the door.

Dad was saying something in strident tones — the tones he used when he was angry but didn't want to be loud. Another voice responded, and its owner made no attempt to be quiet. "I need to speak with Robbie," Stanford Pines said, his voice carrying through the house to Robbie's ears.

Robbie jumped to his feet. Mr. Pines was here. Robbie wanted to talk to him, too — but Mom and Dad had refused to let Robbie leave the house yesterday after he'd gotten back from the forest.

Yesterday, a hamadryad named June had appeared when Robbie called out for help, and she'd told him that the barrier at the edge of town went all the way around the town and the forest in a big dome. She'd also told him other things that had left him with a lot of questions. He'd asked his parents, but they'd clammed up and refused to answer.

Maybe Mr. Pines would answer Robbie's questions.

Robbie went out into the hall, heading for the front door. Mom was there, waiting for him. "What are you doing, Robbie?" she asked. She tried to keep her tone casual. She failed.

"I know Mr. Pines is here," Robbie said. "I want to talk to him."

"You can't," Mom said. "We won't let him in."

"Then I'll go out there." Robbie tried to push past her, but she put herself firmly in his way. "Mom," he said in exasperation. He was stronger than his mom, he knew — but he didn't want to forcibly move her out of the way. "Move, Mom. Please."

"No," she said. Her voice shook, and she looked pained. Her cheek had a shiny purple bruise from yesterday, when Mr. Pines had punched her. It made Robbie angry to see it — what gave Mr. Pines the right to hurt Robbie's parents? — yet Robbie knew that he still needed to talk to Mr. Pines, because the Pines were right in a lot of areas where Robbie's parents were wrong.

Robbie felt caught in the middle of this conflict between his parents and the Pines. He hated it. He hated that he couldn't trust his own parents to do the right thing.

Right now, he needed to get to the door. "Get out of my way, Mom," he said.

Her eyes flared stubbornly, and she didn't move. Well, he didn't want to do this, but he had to get past: so he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her out of his way, then hurried down the hall. "Get back here, Robbie!" she called after him. He ignored her and ran to the entryway.

"I'm right here, Mr. Pines," he said. His socks skidded on the polished wooden floor of the entryway. His dad was by the doorway, pushing against it to keep it closed. The door was slightly open, and it trembled as someone on the other side pushed back.

"Go back to your room, Robbie," Dad ordered. "And you," he called through the door, "leave us alone."

"I want to talk to him, Dad," Robbie said.

"No," Dad said.

"Robbie!" called a voice through the door. It didn't sound like Stanford — it sounded like Dipper. "Robbie, we need to tell you something!"

Robbie grabbed his dad's arm and tried to pull him away from the door. "Let them in," he said. "Let me talk to them."

Robbie was stronger than his mom, but he wasn't as strong as his dad. Greg shoved Robbie away and gave a final push at the door, slamming it closed and locking it. "Leave us in peace!" he shouted.

"Let me in!" The doorknob rattled as Stanford turned it. "Don't make me break this door!"

As much as Robbie wanted to talk to Mr. Pines, he certainly didn't want the man to destroy their property. "Just a sec, Mr. Pines!" he called. "I'll head out the back!" He ran into the living room before his dad could catch him.

Robbie was only in his socks. There wasn't much of a walkway outside — his feet would get soaked for sure. He was wearing only a thin sweater, too. But if Dad and Mom wouldn't let the Pines inside, then Robbie would go out to them. He threw open the back sliding door and ran outside. His dad was hot on his heels as Robbie ran as fast as he could through the deep, freezing snow.

He'd better not get frostbite from this.

When he got to the side of the house, Robbie saw Dipper running toward him. "This way!" Dipper called. Robbie ran after him.

Mr. Pines met Robbie and Dipper on the driveway. "Let's go," Mr. Pines said.

"Wait!" Dad caught up to them and stopped on the driveway, breathing heavily. Greg and Robbie were both in their socks, and Robbie's feet were freezing cold. "Wait, please," Dad panted. "Don't take my son."

"He just wants to talk to me, Dad," said Robbie. He moved closer to Mr. Pines, ready to run for it if he had to. "Let's just go inside, and we can talk." Robbie didn't want to run away. He would if he had to, but he really didn't want to.

"I can't let you in my house," Dad said to Mr. Pines.

"I won't hurt anyone," Mr. Pines said, "even if you and Janice deserve it."

"Hey now." Robbie stepped between Dad and Mr. Pines. "You don't get to talk like that, Mr. Pines. You've been terrible to my parents these last couple days, and it's not cool."

"We sent the minotaurs back to the UFO," Dipper pointed out.

"And my mom's sporting a nasty bruise from yesterday," Robbie countered. "That wasn't necessary."

"She lied to me! You both lied to me!" said Mr. Pines, glaring at Greg.

"Look," said Robbie, "if they won't apologize, I will. I'm sorry they lied to you about Stanley. I really am. And I'm glad that you found him yesterday. Now can we please go inside, where it's warm, and have a civil conversation?"

"I didn't know Ford hurt your mom," Dipper said meekly.

"You're fine, Dip-kid," Robbie assured him. He looked back to Mr. Pines. "I get that you're mad, Mr. Pines. I get mad about the Order and stuff all the time. But can we just calmly talk about all this? I have a lot of questions that I was hoping I could ask you."

"Robbie," Dad said, "I know why he's here. He's going to get you involved in dark magic that will get you hurt."

"It's not dark magic. It will get rid of the barrier around town," Mr. Pines said.

"A barrier that you formed with your portal!"

"Please don't fight, guys," Robbie said. "Can we go inside? I think my feet will fall off if we stay out here."

"Yes, let's go inside," Mr. Pines said.

Dad looked between Mr. Pines and Robbie. "I can't let you in," he said, his voice taking on an edge of desperation.

"Then I'll stay out here with them," Robbie said, "or I'll go with them to the Mystery Museum. Come on, Dad. Let's just go inside."

A tense moment passed, and Dad stared at Mr. Pines with a hesitancy that finally broke into resignation. "Fine," he said. He turned and headed for the door.

"Thanks, Mr. Corduroy," Dipper said, following on Greg's heels. "Sorry about leaving you at the UFO."

Greg glanced down at Dipper but didn't say anything.

Robbie and Mr. Pines followed them. "Are you going to be okay, Mr. Pines?" asked Robbie. "You won't get angry or anything?"

"I'm plenty angry," Mr. Pines said thinly. "But I won't get violent."

On the front porch, Greg knocked on the door. "Janice," he called.

"I'll grab the spare key," Robbie said.

"No," Greg said immediately. "We are not going to show them how to get into our house."

The front door opened a bit, and Janice stuck her head out cautiously. "Greg? Where's Robbie?"

"Right here," Robbie said as he climbed the porch stairs. "We're coming back inside with Mr. Pines and Dipper."

"What? No," Mom said. "No way."

"It's either that or losing Robbie," Dad said heavily. "We'll just. . . talk." He sent a glance over his shoulder at Mr. Pines.

"Yes. Just talk," Mr. Pines agreed.

Mom's hand went up to her bruise. "After what you've done to us?"

"I could say the same to you," Mr. Pines replied. The anger in his voice was barely contained.

"Great, we've established that both parties have done bad things to the other side," Robbie said. "So we don't need to talk about it anymore. Let's go in."

Mom looked warily to Mr. Pines. "Do you have any weapons, Stanford?"

Dipper glanced at his uncle. "Yeah, he has some knockout patches. Did you bring Grunkle Lee's brass knuckles, too, Grunkle Ford?"

Mr. Pines pulled some white wrapped squares from his pocket and, after a moment, handed them to Robbie. "You can hold on to those, Robbie. But the knuckles stay with me," he said stiffly.

"No," Mom and Dad said at the same time.

"He won't use them," Robbie said, sticking the knockout patches in his pocket. "Can we please go inside already?" He was freezing. Why did adults always take so long?

Mom glared at Mr. Pines, but she moved aside. "Just because you didn't have the brass knuckles on when you punched me yesterday doesn't mean I forgive you," she said.

"Yes, well, you're lucky I forgot them in my anger," Mr. Pines said as he, Greg, Dipper, and Robbie stepped into the house.

Robbie moved to the hallway entrance. "Can I go change into warm, dry socks, or will you all start fighting each other without me?" he asked. He felt like he was responsible for keeping the peace, which wasn't cool, considering that there were three supposedly mature adults with him.

"I'll watch them," Dipper said.

Dad didn't look assured by this, but he nodded. "I'll grab some, too," he said. "Janice, will you close the back door?"

"I already did," she said.

Robbie and Dad went to their respective rooms and peeled off their wet socks. Robbie grabbed a towel from the bathroom to dry his feet, then put on a pair of warm (dry) winter socks. He headed to the living room, where he was glad to see that Mr. Pines, Dipper, and Mom were all seated on the couch, and nobody had exploded or anything.

"I thought you would be at the Order," Mr. Pines was saying to Janice when Robbie walked in. "With Lee."

"You thought you'd be able to sneak in and corrupt our son even further?" she replied.

"Mom, stop," said Robbie. "That's not what he said." He sat down next to her on the couch.

"Why aren't you there?" asked Mr. Pines.

"Because Lord Cipher warned us that you'd come today," Janice said. "He knows all."

Robbie perked up. "Lord Cipher? Is that the Cipher guy that June was talking about?"

Mr. Pines looked to him sharply. "June?"

"Yeah, June," Robbie said. "Or Juniper. She's a hamadryad I talked to yesterday."

"I. . . I know that name," Mr. Pines said. "I've talked to her before."

"She told me that the barrier goes all the way around town. And the forest. It's like a dome, or maybe a sphere, and it's trapping us all inside." That was scary enough, but it wasn't what Robbie wanted to talk about. "She also mentioned someone named Bill Cipher. She said I was part of something called the Cipher Wheel."

"That's what we came to talk to you about," Dipper said. "We're on the Cipher Wheel, too. Bill is—"

"I'll explain Lord Cipher," Greg said as he came back into the room. "We didn't want to, but if anyone does, it's going to be me."

Robbie didn't want his dad's explanation. "One sec. I remember you mentioning his name, Dip, after Mabel got possessed. He's the demon that possessed her, right?"

"Yeah," Dipper said. "Mabel and I first met him on the camping trip with you. We followed him into your mind and stopped him from getting information."

Robbie blinked. He remembered Dipper saying something like that after Mabel got possessed, but he'd forgotten about it. "You went into my head?"

"You didn't stop him from doing anything," Greg said to Dipper. "Robbie didn't have the information, and Lord Cipher knew that. He just took the job to see how you and your sister would react."

Robbie turned on his dad. "You knew that there was a demon in my head?"

"Cipher told us about it afterward," Greg said. "But he's always in our heads, Robs. He sees the minds of everyone in town. It's how he can warn us about things, like Stanford coming here today."

"That's why the Order followed us to the UFO," Mr. Pines said. "Cipher sent them after us."

"Why did he possess Mabel?" Robbie asked.

"He was trying to destroy the third Journal so that we couldn't open the portal," Dipper said.

"The point is, Robbie, that the Cipher Wheel is our only chance to defeat him," said Mr. Pines. "There are ten people who are a part of it, and you're one of them."

"It's dark magic," Greg said. "Lord Cipher is imprisoned here, Robbie, in Gravity Rises. Evil people trapped him thousands of years ago, and he's on his way to escaping. But the Cipher Wheel spell is built to destroy him. Its magic would strip away his power until there was almost nothing left. That kind of destructive magic is dangerous to everyone involved."

Robbie frowned. "Isn't wiping people's memories also destructive magic?"

"We don't destroy the memories," Janice said. "The amulet hides them, and it's hard to recall them. But it doesn't destroy them completely."

"That's not much of a difference," Mr. Pines muttered. Janice glared at him, but he continued, "By the way, Robbie, this is why Gideon can't wipe you with his amulet. Those of us on the Cipher Wheel are protected from his magic."

Robbie nodded slowly. "That's why you wanted me to join you at the Order," he said to his parents. "So I wouldn't want to fight this Cipher guy."

"I guess you could say that," Greg said. "We could always use more help, too."

Robbie did his best to ignore the feeling of disgust and anger that came with the thought of helping the Order. "You said earlier that this Cipher Wheel thing would get rid of the barrier around town?" he asked Mr. Pines.

He nodded. "The barrier formed when Fiddleford came out of the portal. It means all ten Symbols — the people on the Cipher Wheel — are in town. Either the Cipher Wheel forms and defeats Bill, or Cipher escapes his prison and gains enough power to destroy entire civilizations at a whim. This town and forest would almost certainly be the first place he targeted."

"What? That's not it at all," Greg said. "Lord Cipher was wrongfully imprisoned. When he gets free, he'll be able to help people in ways that he can't in his prison. Those in the Order of the Crescent Eye will receive great rewards."

"Oh, so you're doing all this because you're greedy?" Robbie asked.

"No!" Greg protested. "No, we're trying to help someone who needs it! I know we sent you to the forest to talk to the hamadryads, Robbie, but they're helping to keep him oppressed. The creatures in the forest are his wardens. They fear that he'll get free and break up their power."

"Then why do you wipe everybody's memories?" Robbie asked. "You worry about people killing the supernatural creatures out of fear. If the creatures are so bad, why wouldn't you let people fight them?"

"It's a tricky balance," Janice admitted. "We need to keep everyone safe — both humans and supernatural creatures. If humans started fighting against the other species, it could start a terrible conflict that would pit human weapons against supernatural magic. We do our best to keep both sides away from that kind of conflict, but we also do what we can to help Lord Cipher escape his prison."

At this point, Robbie's head was spinning. How could his parents hold such conflicting ideas in their heads without going insane? Was the Order trying to fight against the supernatural creatures of the forest or trying to keep them safe? Why would Robbie's parents help anyone that could be labelled a demon, as this Bill Cipher was?

There was a short, tense silence as Robbie tried to digest all of this. When he'd first learned about the Order, he'd only known about the memory wiping part. Now there was a demon thrown into the mix, too? A demon that had lured Mabel and Dipper into Robbie's head?

What had the twins seen in there, anyway? Robbie felt violated. It didn't help that he'd felt the same way yesterday, when he'd followed June into a magical tree so that she could see, through his memories, what the situation was at the edge of town. He had been hesitant, but June had said that it would be faster than him trying to explain. That was when she'd told him that he was part of the Cipher Wheel: She'd somehow seen it when he was inside her tree.

"Robbie? You okay?" Dad asked.

Robbie glanced up at him. "I guess," he said slowly, "that I don't get why you'd want to help a demon. Especially one that possessed a little girl."

Greg was quiet. Dipper nodded and added in a subdued tone, "Mabel still has nightmares from it all. Bill likes to torment her. It's awful."

"He's targeting Gideon Northwest, too," Mr. Pines said. "Gideon is staying at the Museum, and Bill sent him nightmares all night last night as punishment for telling us about my brother."

"Gideon helped you find Stanley?" Robbie asked.

"Yeah," said Dipper. "He risked a lot to help us."

Well, Gideon Northwest certainly was not Robbie's favorite person, but that was good to hear. Robbie looked to his mom. "Did you know that this Cipher guy was sending nightmares to people?"

Mom hesitated. "Not really," she said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that we trust Lord Cipher's judgment," Greg said. "I don't want anyone to have nightmares or anything like that. But maybe Cipher has a reason."

That was the wrong thing to say. "A reason?" Dipper jumped to his feet. As he spoke, his face hardened until he looked angrier than Robbie had ever seen him. "If Bill has a reason for torturing my sister, then it's only to terrify her. There's no good reason to hurt Mabel like that — or Gideon, or anyone. Bill has given me a couple nightmares, too, and it's never helped me or whatever you guys believe in the Order. And it definitely doesn't help Mabel, either!"

"That's not what I meant," Dad said. "I just meant that—"

"You just meant that you choose to overlook how terrible Bill is!" interrupted Dipper. "You want to believe that he'll help you, when really he's just pulling you along and laughing at how gullible you are! I've been trying to understand what you Order members are thinking, I really have, and I can kinda see why you're okay with wiping people's memories. But helping Bill? He's evil, and it's hard to believe that his followers aren't!"

"Calm down," Mom said. "We don't want to hurt anyone."

"But you're okay with standing aside while a demon does?" Dipper demanded. "You're okay with Gaston and his servants showing up at the Museum and threatening to hurt us? You're okay with Pacifica trying to kill my sister?!"

"Wait, what?" said Robbie.

"When the Order kidnapped Mabel, Pacifica was going to murder her!" yelled Dipper. "Bill stopped it, because he needs his Symbols alive, but it was Order members that kidnapped Mabel! It was Order members that chained her to the freaking wall! It could've been your parents, Robbie!"

"We were there when Lord Cipher ordered Pacifica not to hurt her," Mom countered. "He saved her."

"Saved her?! He didn't stop Pacifica from kidnapping her! He didn't stop her from torturing her until we got there!"

"We wouldn't have let anyone get hurt," Dad said.

"But you did! And you guys hurt Ford later, when we came back to get the first Journal! You dragged him and Mabel to Pacifica, and she was going to shoot them with the memory gun!"

"We weren't there that night," Mom said quietly.

"And would you have stopped the others if you were?" Dipper demanded.

Mom and Dad opened their mouths, then closed them again without saying anything. It was clear that the answer to Dipper's question was no, but they couldn't bring themselves to say it. Uncomfortable silence fell over the room.

"I doubt it," Mr. Pines finally said. "They were certainly ready to fight us at the UFO."

Robbie stared at his parents in horror. "Dipper. . . did all that really happen?" he asked without looking at the other boy.

"It did," said Dipper, "and Mabel's been traumatized ever since. I guess. . . I guess I have been, too."

Robbie could hardly process this information. He knew that his parents took part in kidnapping people and wiping their memories. That was pretty bad in and of itself, but that was as far as Robbie had known, at least until the whole situation with the portal. He hadn't known about any demon, and he definitely hadn't known that his parents were almost accomplices to murder.

Mom and Dad were both looking at Robbie with pleading, guilty looks. They didn't try to defend themselves — which scared Robbie, because they usually had a whole pile of excuses. "Well," Robbie finally said to the Pines, "I can see why you want to stop Cipher."

Mr. Pines let out a breath. "Yes. We want to stop him from hurting us more than he already has — and from hurting anyone else. Will you help us, Robbie?"

"Robbie," Mom said. She put her hand on Robbie's arm. "Robbie, please. Don't get involved in this."

Robbie pulled his arm away. "Or what? You'll send Cipher after me, too?"

"We don't send Cipher anywhere," Dad said. "He does what he wants."

"Yeah, like tormenting my sister," Dipper said sullenly. His anger had subsided a bit, but he still glared at Robbie's parents.

"He. . . yes, he'll probably try to stop you if you help fight against him," Mom admitted to Robbie. "I don't — I don't want you getting hurt."

"Everyone in this town is in danger of getting hurt," Mr. Pines pointed out. "Every single one of us. The sooner we form the Cipher Wheel, the sooner we can get out of that danger."

Robbie believed him. He still wasn't entirely happy with Mr. Pines, since the man had recently hurt both of Robbie's parents; but neither was he happy with his parents. Not if they had hurt Mabel. Not if they followed a demon.

"We need to go talk to Wendy, too," Dipper said. "She's the last person on the Cipher Wheel who doesn't know about it. We were hoping you would come with us, Robbie. She'll probably listen to you."

"You're not leaving, Robbie," Mom said immediately. "We won't let you go."

"Then I'll run away," Robbie threatened. His gaze softened. "I can't. . . I can't trust you, Mom. The Pines sound like they have the right idea with the Cipher Wheel."

"It won't work," Dad said. "Even if you join them, Robs, it won't work. Lincoln and Pacifica are both on the Wheel, but they follow Lord Cipher. They won't join you."

Mr. Pines sucked in a breath. "Lee wants to join us. We have to figure out how, but we will. And he's going to talk to Pacifica."

"It won't work," Dad repeated.

Robbie took a breath. "Then we'll make it work," he said. "I'm going to help them."

"Robs—"

"Don't try to talk me out of it," Robbie said. "I'm going with them to talk to Wendy, and then. . ." He glanced between his parents. "And then I hope you'll let me come back," he said quietly.

Mom reached out to him. "Of course we will," she said, emotion in her voice. She wrapped her arms around him.

Robbie leaned against her shoulder. His throat felt tight, and he closed his eyes. "You won't try to stop me?"

"I want to." Mom held him close. "I want to keep you safe in my arms forever."

"But we're not safe," Robbie whispered. "It sounds like we won't be safe until we stop Cipher."

"We won't be," Mr. Pines said softly.

"You're not safe fighting against him, either," Dad said.

"Better to fight than to sit back and let him destroy everything we love," Mr. Pines replied. He got to his feet. "Let's go, Robbie."

Robbie glanced up at him. Mom held all the tighter to Robbie, but he gently pushed her away and stood up. Dad, who had been standing behind the couch, came around to give Robbie a hug. "I feel like I'm losing you," Dad said.

That tight feeling came back. Robbie struggled to speak. "Then you know how I feel," he said. "About you and Mom and the Order."

Robbie pulled back, and he saw the pained expression on his dad's face. But Greg didn't say anything.

"I'm going to go grab my coat and boots," Robbie said. He went to his room and bundled up to go outside. No more wet socks for him. His feet were still feeling cold from his impromptu run in the snow.

He returned to a quiet living room, where none of the inhabitants would meet each other's eyes. The atmosphere was heavy, and even Dipper looked subdued.

"I'll be back soon," Robbie told his parents. "If you don't try to stop me from helping with the Cipher Wheel, then I'll come back."

His parents looked pained, but they nodded. "Be safe," Mom said.

"Just to Wendy's house and back, right?" Robbie asked Mr. Pines.

"Yes," he said. "And you'll have to tell me more about your conversation with June on the way."

"Okay." Robbie went with Mr. Pines and Dipper to the door. Mom and Dad followed them; Robbie glanced back, and they looked like they wanted to rush forward and pull Robbie back. But they didn't.

"Dipper, I. . ." Greg looked guiltily to the floor. "I'm sorry that we kidnapped Mabel."

Dipper and Mom both looked at him in surprise. "Oh. . . thanks," said Dipper.

"Ready, Robbie?" asked Mr. Pines.

Robbie glanced back at his parents again. "I guess so," he said.

"Come back," Dad said. "Be careful."

"I will," Robbie said. Ford opened the door, and Robbie stepped out. It was still cold outside, but it was much more bearable in a coat and boots than in a sweater and socks.

Mom and Dad hung in the doorway, conflicting emotions painting their expressions. Robbie looked back at them one last time before heading down the front porch steps with Dipper and Mr. Pines.

"Okay," Robbie said. "Let's go talk to Wendy."