Thanks to okoroezenwa for the Follow!
Chapter 23/3 - Adjusting
Guidelines?
It was likely she meant restrictions. A part of Sixer had been expecting this – he'd had restrictions given to him before, what could be and could not be said, what could be done.
Sixer turned his attention to the Guildmaster then, ready for what she decided.
"We're gonna have to watch what we say around them," the Guildmaster said, looking at Mizar, Stanley, and Sphinx in turn.
…what?
"I don't know if you've noticed, but these guys are probably going to be open to taking anything we say literally. So I'm gonna start with some easy ones – we can't tell them to kill people, even in jest."
The gagging gasp that came from the spiky-haired man caused Sixer's ears to flick in his direction.
"Just getting that off the table, Vash, because I'm pretty sure that they've done that." The Guildmaster held a hand out to the spiky-haired man – Vash, apparently – in a strange motion that Sixer didn't recognize: arm straight out, palm facing towards the earth.
"That doesn't make me feel any better about this," Vash whined, looking pained and pale.
The Guildmaster nodded a little, then looked over at everyone else. "And we should take into account what moral boundaries we shouldn't be crossing – if they wouldn't normally do anything under any circumstances, don't tell them to do it." She looked over at Sixer, looking him over, and frowned.
Sixer was thrown for a loop. He had been expecting restrictions on himself and his family, not on the Guildmaster and the others in control of them. They were the ones in power here – why did they need rules?
"That certainly is a danger, isn't it?" Sphinx murmured worriedly. He looked over at Mabel, who was staring at the Guildmaster with wide eyes. "Star, if anything comes up and I ask you to do something you are not completely comfortable with, you will let me know, all right?"
Mabel – Star – looked at him sharply while Sixer stared with a slightly wide-eyed expression of his own. Something tried to stir at the back of his mind, but he pushed it back instinctually.
Star stared for a moment, then nodded quickly. Sphinx relaxed.
"Good. I don't want to force you to do anything you wouldn't feel comfortable about. And if you have any questions, you can ask any of us for answers, all right?"
Star's eyes got even wider. "S-so, I don't have to use my powers?"
"If you would prefer not to," Sphinx replied. "Although, I do admit, you've got me curious." He shifted his sitting position next to her. "But if you're not comfortable using them, would you be comfortable telling me about them later?"
Star considered the question, then nodded a little.
"Same goes for you, Pine." Mizar clapped a hand on Dipper's – Pine's – back, grinning as he turned sharply to look up at her with an expression of unabashed shock. "You guys are gonna need time to adjust to all this, and there's no way that I'm gonna make you do stuff with me – I've got my brobro to do that with."
Crescent snorted at the comment. Mabel – Stanford's niece – looked between them with a wide-eyed look that clearly said she didn't completely know what they were talking about.
"Yeah, uh, I don't think that Cress here is gonna be doin' anything with any powers he's got," Stanley said. He looked a bit grim. "'Pparently, he's some kinda changeling that eats people to turn inta 'em."
Crescent nodded in confirmation as Sphinx, Mizar, Stanford, Mabel, and the Guildmaster looked over at him with surprised and startled expressions.
"Changeling…? Geez, first Demon Stans and Transcendence are one AU, and now that one gets involved in this, too…?" The Guildmaster sounded distinctly worried. "Well, yeah, no eating people is a definite thing. That probably just means he's going to be eating a lot more meat than everyone else."
"Sounds good to me," Crescent offered.
The Guildmaster nodded, then looked over at Sixer. Her mouth twitched for a moment, moving somewhat upwards, but she kept it from going further. "Sixer, just so you know, I'll be running things by you, too. I don't want to make you do things you're not comfortable with doing, and if you've got any questions or opinions about events that could end up coming up, go ahead and voice them. Different perspectives on things can help us find a solution to something faster, sometimes even when it contradicts something that I might end up telling you."
That was not what Sixer had been expecting at all.
"A-are you sure that's wise, Guildmaster?" Sixer asked, looking at the Guildmaster with a guarded, but nervous expression.
The Guildmaster frowned. "Well, yeah. I appreciate input on all my decisions from whoever happens to be with me. And since you're going to be with me a lot more than anyone else now because of this connection, having your opinion on decisions I could make would be pretty helpful. I mean, I still have the option to disregard opinions – I do that with everyone – but I like being able to hear what other people think."
"I think you broke him," Crescent called over before Sixer could respond. "Kid, look, I know you mean well, but…" He trailed off, looking like he wasn't exactly sure where else he wanted to go with this.
"You can't give them everythin' an' expect 'im ta be okay right off the bat," Stanley finished. "At least, 'ccordin' ta Crescent." He clapped a hand on his counterpart's shoulder and added, "Take it slow, kid."
Crescent nodded in agreement.
The Guildmaster mad a noise that sounded like a quiet groan of frustration. "I just – I'm used to dealing with tech mind control, not…not something like this." She ran her hand down her face as Sixer watched her warily, looking between her, Crescent, and Stanley with a guarded expression. Ready at a moment's notice. "Sorry. Sixer, you don't have to – it's an option. I may still ask for your opinion on occasions, but if you feel that you need to in certain situations, you can ask or voice your opinion then, all right?"
Sixer hesitated. This was…a…a compromise? It felt like the right word.
Cipher never compromised. It wasn't in his nature.
Yet another thing that he was going to have to get used to.
Sixer nodded when he noticed that the Guildmaster's gaze was on him, and she relaxed a little. Something was starting to buzz at the back of his mind, however.
He tried to ignore it, but the questions were starting to bubble up again, starting with one in particular.
What did the Guildmaster mean when she said she knew about tech mind control?
"Okay; good." The Guildmaster sighed and ran her hand over her face again. "Okay okay okay…so no killing, no doing things that they wouldn't be comfortable with under normal circumstances, give them options to speak their minds…" She looked over at Sixer. "There are some sayings that might sound like they're suggesting orders that could change how they think mentally. Either we tell them to tell the difference between a saying and an order or we just stop saying those sayings entirely."
"Isn't that a little extreme?" Mizar pointed out.
"I'm trying to cover all my bases, because I know sayings can be taken a little too literally sometimes." The Guildmaster looked at Sixer. "It might be easier if we just said to take anything that manipulates how they think with a grain of salt – that is, ask if that was supposed to be an order or not. Like, 'don't worry' or 'don't be afraid' shouldn't be taken as orders to knock those emotions out of their heads completely."
Crescent made a noise at that; Star and Pine exchanged looks, but Sixer kept his gaze on the Guildmaster as she spoke. He…supposed, there was some sense in what she was saying, but it was still throwing him off. He wasn't expecting her to be putting restrictions on herself. It didn't seem…
…well, if this was how she wanted to do things, then so be it. He wasn't going to attempt to correct her.
"If anything else ends up coming up as we go along, we'll have to amend the guidelines, but I think that's pretty much everything I wanted to cover for now," the Guildmaster added. She sighed again; it sounded heavy. "Now we just have to make sure you guys can settle in and…and get you to be more like yourselves again."
Crescent started to respond, but Stanley elbowed him in the side. "She's not talkin' about actin' like you're okay, knucklehead. You can go ahead an' do that, but she's probably gonna know that you're hidin' the fact that you're not okay. Kay?"
Crescent looked confused for a second at his counterpart's words, but then he nodded slowly. "Kay."
Stanley grinned and chuckled. "All-right-y, then." The grin dropped. "So let's get a few things settled – who has extra room where we can let these guys sleep? Because I don't think we can let these guys just…split. Doesn't seem like a very good idea."
Sixer's ear flicked at that, his gaze moving over to Stanley at that comment.
"Okay, what's going on?" Mabel spoke up. "I'm really confused. Why's Grunkle Sixer quiet?"
Sixer's ear flicked again.
"Mabel, he—" The Guildmaster sighed and shook her head. "How do I put this…"
"Cipher…he did something to them," Stanford said carefully. "We – that is, my counterparts and I – were aware that he had caused Sixer to…to turn to his side, but none of us were aware of the extent of that turning, much less what had happened to him as a result. Now that we know a little bit more, well…." He trailed off, considering his next words carefully.
Crescent sighed. "Simplest way to put it is we lost."
The Guildmaster visibly winced as the expressions of those present shifted to shock.
"…wait, what?" Mabel let out a nervous laugh. "Th-that can't be right."
Crescent shrugged. "Well, it did. The Zodiac or whatever didn't work."
"It didn't work for us, either," Stanley spoke up.
Sixer blinked. If it hadn't worked, then…
"Wait, what?" Crescent stared at Stanley with a blank expression.
"Yeah. Ford and I pulled a swap on Cipher and tricked 'im into makin' a deal with me instead'a him. Then I got my memory blasted out and killed Cipher in the same move." Stanley mimed shooting himself in the head. "Got most a' my memories back from that, an' no sign of that stupid triangle."
"Amen to that," the Guildmaster said with a note of relief. She looked at Sixer curiously, then frowned when she saw the confusion flicker across his face. "You…you guys didn't do that, did you?"
Sixer blinked at the question, then shook his head slowly. The memories were vague, but he could remember them well enough. "No, Guildmaster. As soon as the Zodiac failed, he did as he wished with us."
Mabel let out an audible gasp. "That's – that's horrible!" She promptly ran forward and wrapped her arms around Sixer's waist. He looked down at her with a slightly confused expression as she looked back at him with wet eyes, but a frown that wasn't angry. "We're gonna do everything we can to make sure you guys are okay. Cipher's not here, he's not gonna be able to get you guys anymore, and you've got lots of mes who are going to be able to help!" She looked over at Mizar with a determined expression. "Right?"
"Right." Mizar nodded in agreement.
"Good. I'm gonna go tell Dipper so we can figure out what we can do to help! Talk to you later!" Mabel let Sixer go – his expression still with muted confusion – and she ran back towards the shack she and Stanford had come out of, yelling, "Dipper! I need a plan!"
"I guess Mabel got done with leading Vash around town and got back here before we did?" the Guildmaster asked.
The young man with hair that defied gravity nodded. "Yeah; we got back ten minutes before you did." He frowned worriedly. "Maria, did you know that there was a Dipper with pointed ears and wings on his—"
"Yeah, that's Alcor – he's Mizar's twin brother." The Guildmaster waved off his concerned expression. "Absorbed Cipher's power when he beat him in their dimension, and now he's a dream demon. Mizar helps him keep his humanity, so I'm not worried about him being around."
"And you know about that how?" Stanley asked.
"Fanfiction," the Guildmaster replied. "We don't have Twin Stars, though, which I think is a boon."
"And I don't," Mizar said pointedly. "I've got a collection of it in Grunkle Journal's library, if you ever want to read it."
The Guildmaster gave Mizar a raised eyebrow expression. "I'll think about it. First, we gotta find a place to let these guys sleep for a while. Do we have any guest rooms open anywhere?"
"We do."
Sixer's ears flicked in the direction of the voice as the Guildmaster turned. The young man's voice was…almost familiar.
"Tyrone's and Maple's dad?" the Guildmaster asked. Sixer stiffened.
Shermie's son. He was here? In Gravity Falls?
"And you're the person who I have to thank for bringing my uncles home. Alex Pines." Alex held out a hand in greeting.
The Guildmaster took it. "Maria Carlsdale. I hope Gravity Falls is treating you well."
"Well, if by that you mean the gnomes tried to kidnap my daughter our first day up here, yes. What the…who are—"
"They're from a dimension where…things turned out badly," the Guildmaster said carefully. "Really badly. And we've got a year to help them out and prep for the demon's inevitable invasion. Again."
"Again? All you people are talking about demons and I've never seen him face to face."
Sixer turned slightly at that, eyeing Alex's appearance. He looked similar to his own brother's son, from what he vaguely remembered – dark hair, curly, dark eyes. He was slightly skinnier than the Alex he remembered, however.
"You're lucky you haven't," Stanley grunted.
"So my uncles tell me," Alex replied dryly. He looked back at the Guildmaster, pausing at Sixer's gaze. "We have an extra room, since Uncle Stan and Uncle Ford said they wanted to sleep in the same room. It'll take us a little to get some beds moved in, but we should have the room set up in a couple days." He looked Sixer again, faltering slightly. "I'll…I'll go get started on that. But I would like to talk with you later, young lady – you seem to have a good head on your shoulders, and if my uncles trust you, then you should be able to tell me what's going on a little better."
"I'll see what I can do, but I don't think I have all the pieces yet."
Alex seemed to accept that answer, because he nodded slightly, then went back towards one of the houses. A group of figures were standing on the porch – Sixer saw that his brother's counterpart had an eyepatch, but he didn't notice anything else that was different about them.
Stan moved in front of his brother a little more protectively, and Sixer felt the glare's heat from across the clearing. His tails twitched, but he didn't give any other reaction.
He was used to looks like that by now.
"…might as well introduce them to you too," the Guildmaster murmured. She sighed. "This is gonna be fun."
She started towards the building, glancing back at Sixer as she got halfway across the clearing. He started moving after her.
Crescent shot him a look as he passed, but he didn't glance over to see what his expression was.
Stan seemed to become larger as the two of them approached – and not just because of perspective. The man seemed to be trying to make himself appear more imposing while his brother peered out from behind with a wide-eyed expression.
The Guildmaster motioned for Sixer to wait a short distance back from the porch as she moved up to stand in front of Stan.
"You've heard about him too, then."
Stan's gaze never left Sixer's face, although Sixer wasn't looking at him in return. "Not hard to when we've had bounty hunters come after us. What'd you do?"
"To put it bluntly, Sixer is leeching off my willpower at the moment." The Guildmaster nodded in Sixer's direction. "Cipher did something that removed his. Same for the rest of his family. That's why they were following his orders and not doing anything to resist – they were incapable of it."
There was a hardness to her voice. Annoyance, anger. Sadness, too.
"Stanley rescued Sixer's brother, and Mizar and Sphinx got their Dipper and Mabel," Maria added. "So they're not listening to him. Not anymore."
Ford peered out from behind Stan as Tyrone and Maple stood behind him, peering out curiously.
"But how'd they get here in the first place?" Tyrone asked. "If they're working with—"
"That's the other problem." The Guildmaster winced a little. "On top of the fact that we have to figure out how to get them to recover from what's happened, we're on a time crunch. Cipher sent them here because he got too greedy. He's coming through next August to try to take this dimension, too."
Ford stiffened at that, eyes widening sharply out of alarm.
"Moses on a pogo stick," Stan muttered. "I'd just thought that the kids were rumors but this? This is a whole 'nother level of bad."
"You knew about what happened to Pine and Star?" The Guildmaster sounded surprised. "Sphinx didn't. How—"
"We ran into another Ford who told us about some kinda breakout. Well, told Ford, anyway. He kept giving me the stinkeye fer one reason or another."
"Breakout?" The Guildmaster looked over at Sixer. "Stanford said you caught Fords and took them to their Ciphers. Was this them escaping?"
"Yes, Guildmaster." Sixer nodded a little, and Ford's eyes widened sharply. "One of my captured counterparts broke out of his cell when the – when he was looking into other dimensions to invade. He returned as soon as he sensed the event and sent us in to recapture my counterparts. We were not completely successful, as some did manage to escape."
"And I'm glad for that," Stan said pointedly. "It helped keep us on guard a little better."
Ford nodded in agreement, but his gaze didn't move from Sixer, who was focusing more on his counterpart's feet than his face.
"So, what now?" Maple asked. "If – if something's coming next year—"
"We prepare for it," the Guildmaster replied in unison with Stan.
Stan nodded. "Get all our defenses shored up – and warn as many people as we can, too. Maybe take that global."
"Actually, we might not have to." The Guildmaster held up a hand, causing Stan to frown. "There's a natural barrier around town that will keep Cipher in place; it'll stall him for a little while, at least." She looked over at Sixer. "I assume one of the first things he did was have you hand over the equation for that, though."
"Yes, Guildmaster." Sixer nodded.
"I-I doubt th-that equation i-is the exa-act same as what's required here."
Sixer's ears twitched. His counterpart's voice was quiet, and carried a stutter, unlike Stanford's and Sphinx's voices.
"Th-there's four d-dimensions mer-merged together," Ford added. "Th-that changes var-variables."
"…Which would at least slow him down," the Guildmaster said after a moment. "Since he has the equation for Sixer's dimension, he's gonna need some time to figure out which variables have changed as a result of the dimensions merging together. But in the meantime, we've got other things to think about."
The Guildmaster looked at Sixer; he quickly moved his gaze so that he wasn't looking her directly in the eye.
"Let's get these guys settled in and started on the road to recovery. I'd rather not leave Sixer in this state for longer than he already has been."
Sixer didn't hear if there was a response to the Guildmaster's statement, because he was suddenly hit with a wave of pain from the lower part of his torso. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around his middle and dropped to his knees, bending over double, eyes tightly shut and teeth gritted against the pain.