"It's here!" Mabel squeals when a glass bottle appears in the lake. She splashes into the foam to snatch up the newest message from Mermando. Holding it to her heart, she skips through the forest, humming a tune.
"Princess."
Mabel stops humming and skipping and turns to see Ofelia coming out from behind a tree. "You," she says. "W...What are you doing here?"
"I came here to help you," she says, her brown cotton skirt swishing as she strides up to the twelve-year-old. "Also because my parents are missing and you and your brother are the only ones who can help me."
"Us? Why us?" She tugs at her sweater collar, suddenly feeling hot.
Ofelia hugs her green jacket tighter around her. "I'm not sure. Rosie never came back, so I don't know anything about the magic. I was hoping that you and your brother had a dream or another memory."
"Look, I'm sorry." Mabel fiddles with the bottle. "We'd really like to help, but...wait a sec, how did you get here?"
"The labyrinth outside..."
Mabel doesn't hear the rest of the answer. She clutches her head in pain, dropping the bottle in the process. Her ears start to ring as something pounds against her head. Her vision darkens. Her knees feel weak. She doesn't even hear Ofelia screaming for help as she collapses onto the forest floor.
"Hey, Bill," Ariel says, "what are you doing?"
The yellow triangle glances at the Prince and Princess approaching him. "Oh, I'm just checking the labyrinth, seeing how it's doing," he says, lowering his hands and shaking the golden fire from them. The soft, golden fire blankets the labyrinth for a moment before disappearing, speckling the hedges with gold.
"What was that for?" Alex asks.
"That, tiny flesh-puppet, was Verity Fire. It shows the truth about something." The gold specks dazzle like diamonds on the labyrinth. "See?"
The Prince and Princess gasp. "Pretty," the boy says.
"But why do you need to use Verity Fire?" the girl wonders.
Floating behind the kids, Bill drapes one arm around each of them. "This labyrinth is very magical, as it connects to all other labyrinths in the entire multiverse. It's the source of magic in all dimensions, so someone has to check it every now and then to see how strong the magic is here." He sprouts another arm and gestures to the maze. "If it had lost any magic, it wouldn't sparkle like that, but instead appear burnt or ruined."
He leads the kids away from the labyrinth, the third arm gone. "The Verity Fire can also work on creatures, so you can see their true character. Like this." He squints his eye and flicks his hands towards a sneaking manotaur with a pie. The gold fire blankets the creature before shining bright and disappearing in a flash, leaving three gnomes stacked on top of each other, the middle holding the pie. Yelping, they tumble to the ground and scamper away.
The three of them cackle until their sides hurt. Wiping a tear from his eye, Bill says, "So, what brings you kids out here?"
Groaning at the same time, the kids explain together, "We're hiding."
Alex scratches at the cuff links on his white coat. "Mom and Dad want us to learn about military strategy. When are we ever gonna need to know that?"
Ariel adds, "And they won't teach us anything about magic." She frowns. "I really wanted to learn how to fly like a shooting star."
"And I wanted to make myself tall and strong like a pine tree," Alex says.
"Well," Bill says, tapping his chin, "I may not be able to teach you everything about magic, but I could show you the ropes." Snapping his fingers, the twins' souls separate from their bodies, which fall to the ground. They yelp and back away. "Don't worry, your bodies are just sleeping."
Ariel stares at her hands, which now have a white glow outlining them. "What happened?"
"It's a power that pyramans have: we can bring anybody at all into the mindscape."
The twins stare at each other.
Chuckling, Bill says, "You're in the realm of the mind. You can do whatever you can imagine here." To prove his point, he summons a can of soda and tosses it to Ariel.
Cheering, the twins try their hand at summoning things. Ariel manages to conjure up a baby grivern, but all Alex can do is create twigs. He sighs.
"Hey, Smart-Alex," Bill says, twirling a cane, "why the long face?"
"I wanted to summon a pine tree sapling, but..." He dumps the armload of twigs on the ground.
"Haha, what is it with you and pine trees?"
Ariel speaks up for her brother. "They're the most magical kind of tree in all the universes."
Alex nods, adding, "They're known to bring healing and mystic powers to those who use its wood. Plus, they symbolize longevity, wisdom, and harmony."
Bill slowly stops twirling his cane. "Huh, never knew that."
"What do you think we do in the library all day?" Alex smirks.
"Well, don't worry, little Pine Prince. Someday you'll conjure up a pine tree."
"Really?" Alex beams.
"Will I ever be that magical?" Ariel pipes up.
"Of course, little Star Princess!" Bill waves his cane away, levitates the twins in a golden glow. "You two hold more power than you realize! Why, just look at that labyrinth!" He floats them over to the start of the maze. "When you were born, this place lit up like a meteor shower, hasn't done it since. You two hold more power than you realize."
"Alex! Ariel!" their mother's voice calls out.
"Uh oh," the twins say.
Bill claps his hands, and the glow around the kids vanishes as they drift back into their bodies. They sit up, rubbing their heads. "Ugh, we need a better place to hide," Ariel moans.
"I dunno about you kids," the pyraman mentions, "but I hear rumors that the center of the labyrinth is the greatest source of power and can teleport you anywhere you want without needing the portal gates." He sets his hands on his "hips." "But no one's done it yet."
Their mother gets louder and closer.
Waving goodbye to their friend, Alex and Ariel pick their way back to the Queen. "Some day," Ariel whispers to her brother, "let's find the center of the labyrinth and travel to another world."
He shares her conspiratorial grin. "You bet."
"Hey, can you hear me?"
Mabel groans. "What happened?" she mumbles, lightly touching your head.
"You fainted in the forest," Ofelia says.
"You sure you're okay, man?"
Mabel's eyes shoot open and stare up at the redhead. "Wendy? What are you doing here?"
"I was on my way to work when this girl said you were in trouble," she says, stuffing her hands in her worn jeans.
Getting to her feet, Mabel assures them, "I'm fine, guys. Really. Just a bad headache."
"Are you sure, Your..." Ofelia's voice trails off when Wendy glances at her curiously. She hugs herself.
"Totally." Mabel dusts off her skirt and sweater. "I guess I was just a bit excited about..." Her eyes widen. "Ohmigosh, that's right! Mermando wrote me!" Spotting the glass bottle on the ground, she snatches it up and sprints for the Mystery Shack.
Wendy and Ofelia watch her run away. "I have no idea what just happened," the redhead says.
"Neither do I," the dark-haired girl says.
Bill's POV
"Bill Cipher, I summon you!"
Aw, come on! I literally just found my parents! I squeeze their hands as a swirling portal appears behind me, trying to suck me in. My body flaps in the wind like a flag as I stare into my parents' eyes. "I'm not leaving you again!" I scream over the howl of the portal.
"We're not losing you either!" Mom shouts. They tighten their grip - all my old friends gather around them and try to help pull me back. Heck, even Rosie and Six Fingers are helping.
But I feel my hands slipping. "No, no, no!" I tighten my grip, but my hands all of a sudden get sweaty, and it's harder and harder to hang on. No, I won't let go! I won't -
"Aaahhhhhhhhhh!" I scream as the force of the portal yanks me out of my parents' hands, and for the second time in my life I lose them. I swear, I'm gonna kill whoever summoned me for making me -
The portal spits me out, and I skid to a stop in the throne room of the palace. The King and Queen sit tall and smug in their thrones. Anger boils in my veins, but I fight it back. No use in turning red now. "What do you want?" I can't help but snap.
"We want to know why you didn't appear this morning," the King says, glaring down his nose.
"Well, forgive me if I was summoned. You know I can't break a summon!"
"We know," the Queen says.
My fingers twitch, but I resist the urge to punch the Queen's face. "So, I take it you want me to do something?"
"We want our children, Cipher," the King says, his fingers curling around the arms of his throne. "Time is running out - and we think that you are keeping something from us."
I hesitate for a moment before leaning backward in the air, hands behind my head, crossing one leg over the other. "Ha, if I were keeping something from you guys, I wouldn't last that long."
"True, we would kill you for treachery in that case," the King agrees, his eyes cold. "However, you haven't been telling us what has been happening in Gravity Falls, and-"
"You wanna know what's going on there?" I straighten, hovering in the air as I tick off points on my fingers. "There's some people who go around erasing people's memories or trying to prove that the supernatural doesn't exist, some teen likes graffiti-ing giant muffins everywhere in town, and gnomes are stealing pies. No one knows anything about the portal or the Kingdom."
For a minute, I have a staring contest with the stiffs, but they blink and glance away. Ha! I win! I cross my arms, wishing I could smirk at them.
"Very well, Cipher," the King says, adjusting his crown. He clears his throat. "But we would like you to go to Gravity Falls and keep an eye out for us."
"For what?"
The Queen speaks up, "We sent an anurodea to hunt for our children. If he finds them, he will bring them back here. If not, he will stay there forever."
What?! Don't they know that anurodeas eat humans? True, they haven't eaten humans in a long time, since the only humans around here are the royal family. But still! "How do you know it will want to come back?"
Those pompous jerks exchange evil glances. "Let's just say we promised its weight in gold and jewels," the Queen says.
Judging by the looks on their faces, I'm guessing they would have crushed the creature with gold and jewels when it got back. "You're insane!"
"You're one to talk, pyraman," the King spits. "Now, go to Gravity Falls and keep an eye on the anurodea. Make sure it finds our children."
They wave their hands as if shooing a fly. I seethe as I fly out of the throne room, out of the palace. How dare they talk to me like that! How dare they keep me - again! - from my family! Away from their watchful glare, I let myself turn red. Vampires, fairies, manotaurs, and the other creatures around here steer clear from me. Smart guys. They know better than to mess with me. If only the King and Queen were that smart.
Once I'm back in my little shack (which is still charred from earlier), I summon a ball of magic and watch an image of the Pines kids fade into view. Pine Tree figured out McGucket's role in all this, and Shooting Star seems upset over a message in a bottle. I clench my hands into fists. It's obvious that the King and Queen know their kids are in Gravity Falls now, but why are they willing to putting them in harm's way?
A/: Hope you guys are liking this story as much as I am writing it! This chapter has major clues about the past and future (hence, the title).
Also, I decided to give you guys a big clue. I'm sorry it's long, but it explains a bit about why the King and Queen are in a hurry to see their kids. If you solve this Vigenere Cipher, DON'T TELL ANYONE! It'll ruin the surprise when that part eventually comes up. The key for this code is the name of a girl from this chapter. The answer will appear in a near-future chapter.
Prophecy of the Labyrinth
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