Freedom

Preston stood at the front of the room. "Thank you all for coming! I think we can all say this party was a rousing success."

"I guess you could say it was a slam dunk, Presto," said the basketball player guest.

"Yes, yes, I guess, sure," said Preston. "A toast! To our family name..."

His glass shattered, to the sound of ghostly laughter.

"What?" said Preston.

The Ghost flew out of the fireplace. "Generations locked away, my revenge shall have its day!"

The old mayor said, "Ah, the grim reaper! I'd been wondering when you would arri- Aaah!"

A beam from the ghost struck the mayor, and both he and his wheelchair turned to wood and fell over. Stuffed animals came to life and attacked the guests. More beams struck and more turned to wood. The house was rapidly turning back into a forest.

Mrs. Northwest said, "Preston, what are we going to do?"

Preston punched a stuffed squirrel off his shoulder. "Prepare the panic room."

They ran off to find a butler to do this.

Pacifica was hiding near the front door, hoping Dipper would come back.

The front doors flew open and Dipper came in, soaked from the rain. He gasped in shock at the sight of the house.

One of the guests who was turning to wood reached out to him, "Please, help me!"

"Whoa, that is just messed up," said Dipper.

"Just one way to change your fates: a Northwest must open the party gates," chanted the ghost.

Dipper saw Pacifica. "Pacifica, you heard that. Please sweetheart, just do it. Pull the lever and open the gates."

Pacifica said, "My parents..."

Dipper said, "Forget your parents and do the right thing. Do it before anyone tells you not to. It's easier to get forgiveness than permission."

Pacifica said, "It's not. They'll never forgive me. But I'll do it, because I love you and I have to save you at any cost."

She reached up and pulled the gate lever, then called to the Ghost. "Hey ugly, look what I just did! Now change everyone back!"

There was a roar of noise from outside as the group of Gravity Falls citizens rushed onto the grounds.

"Yes, yes, it's happening! My heart, once as hard as oak, now grows soft, like more of a birch, or something," said the Ghost.

The guests and the manor returned to their normal forms.

"Pacifica, you are not like the other Northwests. I feel... lumber justice," said the Ghost, glowing and fading away in peace.

Preston opened the hatch of the Panic Room and saw what was happening. "Pacifica Elise Northwest, what have you done? You have shamed the family name!"

"There was no other way," said Pacifica. "The ghost would have killed us all."

"You should have realized we had a contingency plan. We would have survived in the Panic Room," said Preston. "There were enough mini-sandwiches and oxygen to last you, me, and a butler a full week."

"I didn't know it would work against a ghost," said Pacifica.

"It would have," said Mrs. Northwest, "I had it enchanted to be ghost-proof."

"You failed to act as a Northwest ought," said Preston. "We'll discuss your punishment later. Right now we have to deal with this fiasco."

Preston saw Manly Dan swimming in the cider fountain, Old Man McGucket dancing on a table, and Tyler placing a fork wrong. "Good lord, the riffraff! They're everywhere! "

Pacifica and Dipper slipped away to a different room.

"I'm in for it now, but they won't punish me in front of everyone," said Pacifica. "They'll wait until after the party. I'll be grounded for the rest of the summer, if nothing worse."

"Unbelievable," said Dipper. "You saved everyone and they still blame you."

"At least I didn't have to disobey a direct order, or resist the bell," said Pacifica.

"You could have done it, even then," said Dipper.

"To save you, I think I could have," said Pacifica. "But it would have been harder."

"Your parents will never approve of me, will they?" asked Dipper.

"No, they looked down on you even before you told them off," said Pacifica. "I don't know how I'm going to tell them that I love you."

"We're going to have a rough road ahead, aren't we?" asked Dipper. "We may not get to see each other for a long time."

"That's the way it is," said Pacifica. "But I'd rather not think about that right now; we have tonight. You know that secret room we found? Let's hide in there and make out."

"I like that idea," said Dipper, following her.

In the secret room, they sat down on the floor opposite the picture that the Ghost had uncovered when he attacked Pacifica. Dipper put his arm around Pacifica.

"Why does your family have a picture of llamas?" asked Dipper.

"I don't know," said Pacifica. "When I was younger they used to call me their little llama."

"That's sweet," said Dipper. "They have a soft spot in their hearts for you after all. It reminds me of me and lambs. There's a picture I'm sure Mabel will embarrass me by showing you sometime."

"There's something scary about it, but I can't quite remember," said Pacifica. "It has something to do with a tapestry they have in a side room of a triangle with one eye."

Dipper jumped up suddenly. "They have a tapestry of what?"

"A triangle with one eye floating in the air, and it's burning everything. It's their religion, I guess," said Pacifica. "They don't talk about it much, but sometimes they go in there and bow down in front of it."

"Pacifica, this is bad. That thing is real; I've had some seriously horrible encounters with it," said Dipper. "We need to look around in here some more and see if there are any more clues to what they're up to."

"What about some kissing first?" asked Pacifica, pouting a little.

Dipper said, "I'm worried you may be in danger, if your family is involved with Bill. Big things are going down, probably soon."

Pacifica sighed as Dipper started uncovering more paintings. Then she gasped.

"These are like twisted versions of the paintings in our Northwest achievement galley," Pacifica said. "Jacob Northwest Cheating the Indians instead of Jacob Northwest Making Peace with the Indians, and Cyrus Northwest Robbing the Town instead of Cyrus Northwest Feeding the Town. No wonder this room was locked up. It's a painted record of every horrible thing that my family's ever done."

"What about this one, with the mad scientist?" asked Dipper.

"That looks like my grandfather, Victor Northwest, but pictures I've seen of him never looked so evil. He was supposed to be a great scientist and biologist. He disappeared about 30 years ago."

Dipper looked at the painting more closely. "Wait a second, there are six fingers on his right hand!"

"Yes, I know about that. He was doing breakthrough experiments in cloning and he accidentally cloned one of his fingers."

"He's the author of the journals, of this Journal 3!" said Dipper. "He'd be a good ally against Bill if we could find him. The page he wrote on Bill says, 'Do not summon at all costs!'"

"It's impressive, all the things he found out about ghosts. What else did he write in there?" asked Pacifica.

"He was the one who made the notes about Nathaniel Northwest, and he found a map that lead to Mabel and I discovering Nathaniel was a fraud. But I'm curious about one thing. How did a village idiot become so cunning that he could persuade a whole crew of lumberjacks to build a house for him?"

"I thought you were cruel to show me that document," said Pacifica. "I should have done more digging after that and found out I was born from a line of crooks."

"Just because you're your parents' daughter doesn't mean you have to be like them," said Dipper.

"I made a start tonight, anyway," said Pacifica.

"You did, and I'm proud of you," said Dipper.

They kissed, but Dipper broke away again. "There's one more place we should go tonight to try to learn more."

"Dating a nerd is frustrating, you know that?" asked Pacifica. "Where do you want to go now?"

"There's a room under the museum, which has records of erased memories," said Dipper. "I saw one tube for your father and one for you."

"Erased memories?" asked Pacifica.

"The Society of the Blind Eye had a machine to erase memories. They've been using it on the town for the last thirty years or so. We need to know what you lost."

"All right," said Pacifica. "But I hope it's worth losing more make-out time."

As they tried to get out a side door, the butler who had been in the Panic Room noticed them.

"Miss Pacifica, sneaking out with a young man?" said the butler. "Your parents would not approve."

"Please don't say anything to them, Greaves," said Pacifica. "I'll stay here."

"In spite of what your parents said, you did well tonight, Miss Pacifica," said Greaves. "You deserve a break for saving everyone. Have fun."

With almost everyone in town at the party, it was easy to break into the museum without being seen. Dipper showed Pacifica the secret passage to the Hall of the Forgotten.

"There may be an alarm on this record," said Dipper, as he got down the tube for Preston Northwest.

There was an alarm, but Dipper was able to silence it quickly. They put the tube into the player.

Preston Northwest appeared on the screen, seated in the Blind Eye Society's chair but not tied down.

"I am retiring from the Society and passing on the leadership role to Jeffrey Cannuck," said Preston. "I believe he has sufficient ruthlessness to do the job well."

"Thank you," said an off-screen voice. By the accent Dipper could tell it was the man who had called himself "Blind Ivan."

"Do you have anything you want to forget?" asked Blind Ivan.

"I have no regrets, but I do wish to forget that Pacifica found out the truth and called me a monster," said Preston. "And what she did after that. It is an annoying memory."

That was the end of the record.

"Now we really need to find yours," said Dipper.

After digging around in the loose tubes for a bit, they found a tube labeled "Pacifica Memories" and put it into the projector.

"Pacifica Northwest, what have you seen?" asked the voice of a Blind Eye member.

"I overheard my parents talking, and they worship this demon called Bill Cipher," said Pacifica. "They plan to sacrifice me or something, to turn me over to Bill to bring about an Apocalypse, a reign of monsters on Earth. It sounds totally crazy. I need you to help me!"

'We'll help you... to forget," said the speaker for the group.

"This isn't exactly the sort of thing we usually erase," said one of the other members. "It's not a monster sighting."

"It is knowledge of a future monster sighting," said the first speaker. "And it is of personal importance to me, your leader."

"Father?" Pacifica said, "Is that you?"

The speaker apparently removed his hood, because Pacifica gasped.

"Yes. I might as well tell you the whole story, because you won't remember it anyway," said Preston Northwest. "Many years ago, your great-great grandfather was a lowly street sweeper. A being named Bill Cipher came to him in a dream and offered show him where to find magical mushrooms that would increase his intelligence and cunning so that he could rise in the world. Nathaniel Northwest agreed, and soon he was able to found Gravity Falls, or get himself declared the founder – the historical record isn't clear. The only condition Bill Cipher asked in return was that in 618 quarter-years that the direct descendants of Nathaniel must give up their firstborn child to him, as one of a set of ten people on his wheel of prophecy, to allow him to take over the world in an Apocalypse."

Pacifica asked, "When is this Apocalypse supposed to happen?"

"Six hundred and eighteen quarter years is one hundred and fifty four and a half years from the date of the deal. That will be in the summer of 2012," said Preston.

Pacifica gasped, "In a little over a year? And I'm the firstborn child you chose to sacrifice?"

"Not exactly," said Preston. "You see, we didn't want to give up our actual child. Fortunately, my father Victor Northwest invented cloning. You are the clone of our real Pacifica, who is being raised in a boarding school in Europe. You are her genetic twin, with some llama genes added for extra docility and obedience."

"I can't believe this!" said Pacifica.

"Believe it or not, you won't remember it," said Preston.

"You're a monster," said Pacifica, and she spit in his face.

"How dare you!" said Preston.

"Llamas sometimes spit, 'Father dear'," said Pacifica.

"Erase her!" said Preston, and the record ended.

Pacifica stared into space, in total shock.

"You can't go back to them," said Dipper. "Come to the Mystery Shack with me. We'll put you up and figure out what to do."

"I'm not really Pacifica Northwest? I'm just a clone... They were going to sacrifice me..."

Are you all right?" asked Dipper.

"I'm terrified, but... I'm free! I don't have to live up to the Northwest name any more."

"Down to it, you mean," said Dipper.

Back at the Shack, they talked in the attic room with Mabel, who had come back from the party early after finding nobody to date. Only Grenda had been successful.

"I'm nobody," said Pacifica. "I have nothing."

"You have us," said Mabel. "We'll be your new family, Pacifica."

"I'm not Pacifica. I need a new name."

"Atlantica," suggested Dipper. "Because you're oceans apart."

"Too close."

"Linda," suggested Mabel.

"Linda the Llama? Too alliterative for me."

"How about Glinda?" said Mabel.

"Glenda?" asked Dipper.

"Glinda, like in the Oz movie," said Mabel. "Glinda the Good, since you're good now."

"That name works for now. I feel so unreal, anyway," said Glinda. "I'll have to get fake identity papers in some real name later."

"Why?" asked Mabel.

"To get a job," said Glinda. "I'm penniless, except for a little pocket change."

She pulled out three fifty-dollar bills.

"Wow," said Mabel.

"It won't last long," said Glinda.

"Stay with us while we face this Apocalypse thing," said Dipper, "I think we're on the prophecy wheel, too."

"Really?" said Glinda.

"We saw Bill Cipher in a dreamscape," said Dipper. "Right before he vanished he showed us a wheel with ten symbols on it. One was a pine tree like on my hat, and one was a shooting star like one of Mabel's sweaters. He called us by those names, too. Pine Tree and Shooting Star."

"Was there a symbol for me?" asked Glinda.

"There was a llama," said Mabel.

"I was hoping I was off the hook, since I'm not really the firstborn," said Glinda.

"Bill may punish your so-called parents for cheating, but he might try to use you anyway," said Dipper.

"We're going to have to fight this," said Mabel. "I'll keep my grappling hook handy."

"Right now, I need some holding and comfort," said Glinda. "Dipper, can we continue that session you've been putting off?"

"Would you like some privacy?" asked Mabel.

"That would be good, thanks," said Dipper.

"Then go use Soos' break room," said Mabel. "I want to sleep."

Dipper gathered blankets and pillows.

"I just wish we knew exactly when the threat was coming, so we could be better prepared," said Dipper.

"Tomorrow, sweetie," said Glinda.

Back at the party, McGucket was wandering around. "Where did that Dipper get to? I want to show him this threat countdown thingummy."

The counter went down to "20:19:07".