"It should be somewhere along here." said Dipper, snapping the Journal shut and tucking it back into his vest. He and his sister were hiking along the top of a narrow escarpment above Lake Gravity Falls. "The author may not have been able to find the Shrine but I really think we figured it out." Mabel followed, enjoying her the view of the lake more than anything else.
"Yeah, we're great." she said absently. Dipper thrust his hands deep into the tangle of vines that covered the cliff face and grasped blindly.
"Just think what an amazing discovery it will be to find the Golem Stone."
"Do you really think everyone will want clay-people?"
"Think about it. Golems are super-strong, don't need to eat or sleep and are completely obedient. Once the Golem is given a task it stops at nothing to complete it. Plus, the instructions can't be altered except by another command placed in its mouth by the creator. Just imagine all the chores people wouldn't have to do if they had a Golem hanging around."
"So you just touch the Stone to the clay guy and 'poof!' Insta-monster?"
"Something like that. The Author never saw the Stone so he only had rumors…I think I feel something!"
"Is it the temple? Or treasure? Or candy? OHMYGOSH Dipper please tell me it's candy!"
"No, it's a…" Suddenly panic overtook Dipper's face, "SNAKE! SNAKE! BAHHH! SNAKE ON MY ARM!" Dipper tumbled backwards, taking some of the vines with him. "AH MABEL! IT'S IN MY SHIRT!" IT'S HEADING TOWARDS MY FACE!" Dipper winced in anticipation of the strike, when a small garter snake popped out from under his collar and gently tickled his check with its tongue.
"Ah ha, he's giving you reptile kisses." Dipper picked up the snake and set it on the ground. He looked back at the spot on the cliff he'd been exploring and his eyes widened with excitement.
"Mable, look!" In the place where the vines had torn away the Twins caught a glimpse of what looked like carved stone.
Dipper and Mabel tore at the vines, exposing more of the sculpture. With one final yank the plants gave way and they were finally able to see the entrance beneath. The portal consisted of a post and lintel hewn from the cliff face, which framed a rugged, natural cave entrance. Dipper scanned serif characters etched into lintel and slowly read them out load "Aleph…Mem…Tav?" Dipper looked hopefully to Mabel. Neither of them were exactly Hebrew scholars, but Mabel had always enjoyed vocalizing the characters' swoops, curves and dashes when she wrote them, which made her the expert between the two of them. Mabel rubbed her temples in deep concentration.
"EMET!" She piped up enthusiastically.
"That's…truth, right?"
"Yeah…" Mabel trailed off, frowning at the stone inscription. The character on the left had been crudely struck through, giving her a queasy feeling.
"Something wrong?" said Dipper, standing expectantly at the threshold of the cave. Mabel looked from Dipper to the scarred letter and back again. She put the thought out of mind and gave Dipper a smile.
"No problems here Bro Bro. Lets spelunk the HECK out of this cave!"
"Ha, Yeah! Let's Do It!" Dipper handed Mabel a flashlight and the two entered the dark cavern.
…
The cave followed a circuitous, downward path. The floor was a treacherous jumble of broken rock slick with mud and condensation that the Twins had to work together to navigate. After an unending series of ups and downs, twists and switchbacks they came to a shear drop, with seemingly no way to cross. Dipper raised his flashlight and peered across the expanse. On the opposite wall he could see a ledge with an opening, crowned by a carved five-fingered hand with an eye set into the palm.
"Whoa, big hole." said Mabel, stepping up to the edge. "I wonder how deep it goes." She picked up a stone and tossed it over the side. They listened closely. After more than a minute of waiting they turned to each other and winced. "Yikes." said Mabel, cautiously backing away.
"Wait!" said Dipper, gathering a handful of gravel. "I think I know what to do." He walked up to the edge and tossed the stones, expecting them to reveal the hidden bridge beyond. Instead, they plummeted interminably just like the first one. Dipper's shoulder's slumped. "I really thought that would work."
"Hey Dipper." Dipper turned around to see his sister hanging upside down from a small ledge in the cave wall with her arms dangling over her head. "I'm a stalactite. Watch me grow." she remained motionless for several seconds. "It takes a while." Dipper chuckled and his beam glinted off something embedded in the ceiling. He raised the light and observed a rope stretching all the way to the other ledge, secured against the ceiling by a series of robust eyehooks.
"Mabel!" he said, pointing at the tethered line, "That's it! That's the way across!" Mabel tucked her head into her chest and looked up at the apparatus.
"Oh yeah, I guess it is. Once again the day is saved through the power of Geology!"
…
Dipper and Mabel inched cautiously down the rope, pulling themselves along while hanging upside down with their legs wrapped around the line. Their progress had been fairly sooth until near the end, when Dipper began to feel the Journal slip from his vest pocket. He stopped and tried to readjust, but book continued its slide towards oblivion.
"Why'd you stop Dip?"
"Mabel," Dipper whispered, afraid his breath might be final straw that pushed the book over the edge, "The Journal is falling out of my vest."
"Well grab it!"
"I can't! It's-NO!" The familiar tug of the Journal vanished and Dipper's heart sank. From behind him he heard Mabel grunt and the hollow thud of something heavy being caught. "MABLE!" Dipper shouted, desperately craning his neck to see behind him.
"It's ok Bro. I caught it."
"Really?! Mabel, you're AMAZING!"
"Amazing? Obviously. Able to climb one-handed while carrying this thing...? Probably not." Hanging by nothing but her legs she tucked the precious volume under her arm and hoisted herself up. "Get to the ledge so I can throw it to you."
Dipper pulled himself hand-over-fist as fast as he could. When he reached the other end he unhooked his legs and dropped to the ledge. "Ok Mabel! Toss it here!" Mabel unhooked her arm and hung from the rope by her legs. She clasped the Journal between her hands and lined up her shot when she was gripped by a spasm of insecurity. "What's wrong?" Dipper called nervously. "Toss it so you can get off that rope!"
"Ok…" said Mable, evasively. "Here's the thing: You have to promise that if I miss, you won't hate me forever."
"You won't miss." he said.
"Sure, absolutely… But hypothetically, were that impossible thing to somehow happen…"
"MABLEIPROMISENOTTOHATEYOU! NOW THROW IT AND GET DOWN!" Mabel took a deep breath and heaved the Journal across the void. It landed safely in Dipper's arms and they exchanged relieved smiles.
…
The pair passed beneath the carved hand and emerged into an enormous vaulted chamber. Floor-to-ceiling stalactites and stalagmites formed a natural columnade around its perimeter and emitted a warm, ethereal glow. Metal basins filled with ossified offerings were scattered haphazardly across the ground. At the focal point at the opposite end of the room there was a stone altar made of an enormous slab laid across two boulders. Suspended above the altar in a narrow beam of light there was an asymmetrical clay disk with the characters from the cave entrance pressed into the surface. "That must be the Golem Stone," whispered Dipper as they stepped cautiously around the vessels that crowded the grotto's central nave.
The altar was taller than either of them, and Dipper placed his foot on one of the boulders to hoist himself up. "Dipper, I'm starting to think we shouldn't mess with the mysterious, floating artifact." Dipper swung his leg over the top of the altar and pulled himself up. "And I don't know how I feel about walking all over their rock…table…thingy." Dipper stuck his hat into the beam and examined it for any ill effects.
"We didn't come this far to leave something this important behind," he said. Satisfied that the beam was harmless he raised his hand and swiped the disk. It felt like the kind of thing a child might have made in art class, only warmer and slightly charged. "Besides," he said, pocketing the stone and turning back to Mabel "there's nobody down here but us." With that final pronouncement the beam began to flicker and the chamber shook.
"Dipper…" said Mabel, looking nervously around the room. The beam went dark and the altar split in two, sending Dipper tumbling onto his sister. The room continued to shake and the two huddled against the back wall for shelter. Mabel bit her lip guiltily. "Dipper…" she stammered.
"Yeah?"
"Back at the entrance, I should have told you, when you strike the aleph from 'emet' you're left with just 'met.'"
"What does that mean?" he said, raising his arm to protect his head.
"death" answered a booming, earthy voice from the opposite end of the chamber.
…
The rumbling gradually stopped and the Twins looked through the dusty haze for the source of the voice. Above the entrance a bulky, enormous figure unfurled and planted its inflexible feet on the chamber floor. It lumbered forward and they gradually comprehended its massive heft and frame. "It's a golem." Dipper whispered, barely able to form the words.
"you are correct child of flesh. i am the slave-guardian of this shrine, bound by fiat that none who enter shall be suffered to live." With that, the clay colossus detached its weighty left hand, which it hurled at the frozen siblings like a cannon. Instinctually, Dipper grabbed Mabel and the two tumbled into the relative safety of the space behind the chamber's formidable stone pillars. The fingers of the Golem's hand stood up and it trundled back to its master where it reattached to its arm.
"you are quick children, but it will not avail you. my drive is unyielding and my hands are strong," The Golem began swiping blindly between the pillars. "by force or by time I will see the task done. i can not permit you use that stone to summon more like myself; lashed to its infernal existence and condemned to a life of brutish slaughter-" A load clang cut the Golem off mid-soliloquy. It turned to see Dipper and Mabel, who had snuck around the edge of the chamber to the exit while he had been talking. The Twins froze mid-stride while the vessel Mabel had inadvertently upset inscribed noisy, metallic circles on the cave floor. It's revolutions diminished until it finally clattered to a stop. Dipper stared daggers into Mabel who sheepishly shrugged. The Golem lumbered towards the Duo, who cautiously backed towards the exit.
"S-so yEah…" Dipper stuttered, his voice cracking, "Sorry about that whole 'eternal guardian' thing but…you got a nice place here! So…hey, thumbs up…a-and we promise we'll only use this for good-"
"good!?" bellowed the Giant as it dove towards them. "you wield an instrument of perpetual bondage!" The earthenware colossus crashed into the ground and siblings dove out the exit. "would you create your own children of earth? beings of thought and desire, forever sublimated to your whims?" The Golem thrust its hand through the tiny entrance, and Dipper and Mabel split to either side of the ledge to avoid its swipes. Mabel stepped up onto a rock and leapt over the hand for the rope line, catching it awkwardly and wrapping her legs as they had before. She looked down at Dipper and motioned frantically for him to follow her. There were no stones for him to stand on and he turned back to Mabel helplessly.
"There!" she gestured, indicating the cliff face. Dipper looked up and saw the deep grooves that made up the carved hand over the entryway. He slid his hand into he nearest crease and began slowly scaling his way up and over the chamber entrance. The Golem ceased its futile groping and peeked through the hole. It caught site of Mabel and its eyes narrowed before vanishing behind the wall. Dipper took advantage of the lull and let himself down onto the stepping-stone. He jumped to the rope where Mabel had been waiting anxiously. They pulled themselves over the pit as fast as their arms could carry them, and at about the halfway point Dipper began to allow himself to believe they'd made it.
"It must have given up-" he began before there was the sudden, thunderous crack of stone clashing into stone. The chamber wall fractured and the cavern shook mightily.. "He's going to break through the wall!" Dipper yelled to no one in particular as the two redoubled their already frenzied efforts to get across. Another thunderous crack and a portion of the carved hand tumbled into the abyss. The Golem's monstrous hands gripped either side of the broken slit and with one great motion, tore down the entire wall. The Twins were nearly at other side when the Golem reached up and wrenched the cord from the ceiling. The pair plummeted and landed just shy of the crevasse, with Dipper's legs dangling precariously over the edge.
After realizing they were not in fact dead, Mabel and Dipper triumphantly leapt to their feet and bounded around the cliff's edge.
"WHOO! Hey Rock!" Mabel taunted. "You may be hot stuff when it comes to scissors, but you know what they use to make paper? PINES!" The Golem turned and stormed into the chamber.
"Yeah you'd better go back!" Dipper yelled. "You stand at that back of that room and…turn around and…charge the canyon…"
"IT'S GONNA JUMP!" Mabel shouted as the two took cover in the tunnel. The Golem catapulted into the air, falling just short of the tunnel but catching the ledge with its hand, which it used to begin hoisting itself up. Mabel and Dipper didn't stick around long enough to see if it would succeed and began the long, jagged, muddy journey to the surface. Mabel had lost her flashlight in the fall, so the tunnel was even darker than before. To make matters worse, the Golem's destructive pursuit up the narrow tunnel was constantly jostling and shaking the unstable rocks Mabel and Dipper were climbing. Despite the tremors the Duo soon caught their first glimpse of daylight and made their final break for salvation. Just as they were about to reach the top the ground shook and the walls near the entrance shifted awkwardly. The fragile cave ceiling collapsed into the tunnel, blotting out the afternoon light.
"NO!" shouted Dipper, who recklessly clambered up the obstruction, searching for some kind of opening. There was a small gap between the new ceiling and the debris, which Dipper began furiously tearing at. Mabel was close on his heels and with agonizing slowness the two began widening the stubborn chink. Preoccupied with their digging the Twins only gradually noticed that the tremors that had dogged their entire ascent had abruptly stopped. The two slowly turned and froze in cringing horror, as their excavated opening cast a slim beam of light across the Golem's stone features.
"i am sorry children, but your gambit has failed." It shifted slightly, blocking the tunnel behind it. "i commend you for your guile and bravery, but i must fulfill my purpose. providence willing, i will crush that accursed stone along with you two and end my torment as well." Dipper pulled the Stone from his pocket. It couldn't be he thought incredulously just as the Golem drove its fist through the air. Reflexively, Dipper raised the disk and brought it down over his knee. The disk snapped, emitted a single spark, and went cold.
The Twins gradually unclenched from their wincing, balled terror and squinted tentatively at the Golem. Its fist had been arrested mere feet from the spot where they lay. They momentarily glimpsed its monumental face, which was softer than it had originally seemed, before the clay giant collapsed into a hill of pulverized earth.
…
Dipper and Mabel silently walked side-by-side along the edge of the escarpment back towards town. Mabel stopped and shook out her hair. "Hold on," she said as red dust tumbled from her brown locks. "I've still got Golem in my hair." Dipper had drifted over to a grassy patch overlooking the valley where he sat and hugged his knees. Mabel sat next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You ok?" Dipper stared sadly at the two halves of the Golem Stone he'd laid in front of him.
"I don't know how I feel about today Mabel." he sighed. "We stopped a monster, but I don't feel like we did the right thing." Mabel tucked in her own knees and took in the orange evening sky, which danced across the surface of the lake.
"Sometimes, I think bad things happen even when nobody did anything wrong," she said, carefully collecting her thoughts "We didn't know how the Stone worked, and the Golem didn't have any choice. None of us wanted it to happen, but it did."
"It was so fragile," he said, still looking at the clay fragments. "The whole time, if I'd dropped it or crushed it under my weight, that would have been the end of it right there."
"Are you going to try to fix it?" she asked.
"Even if I could, I don't think I deserve the power the Stone has."
"But you wouldn't do what the Golem's creator did. You'd be good to your creations." Dipper looked up and gave his sister an appreciative smile.
"I guess, but I still don't think that's a responsibility I want." Mabel smiled and held out her hand. Dipper placed half the disk in her palm and readied the other half.
"On three?" asked Mabel. Dipper nodded. "One…two…THREE!" The siblings flung the halves off the cliff and observed their spinning trajectory into the golden lake below.
…
Count out the golems, move forward with haste. For sins etched in stone, are not soon erased.
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