The next morning was a Saturday, so when Winter and Summer arrived at the Mystery Shack all was quiet. In fact, it appeared as if everyone in the house was asleep. A relaxing, pleasant silence soaked the clearing, marred slightly by the persistent hum only they could detect and the singing of a few birds.

"I told you it was too early," Summer muttered. "It's a weekend. People like to sleep on weekends."

Winter ignored her, choosing instead to glare through the driver's side window. "It's eight o'clock. They have to wake up sometime."

"Just because we rise so early doesn't mean everyone else does."

Grumbling, she relented to that fact and opened her door. "Fine. Let's go check on our friends in the pit while no one is watching."

On this occasion their entry into the abyss was far more graceful. Summer tumbled in, giggling happily, while Winter decided on a swan dive. This time, the presence didn't try to push them back out, so they had to use their own power as a parachute. Once they reached bottom, it coalesced into the same rainbow blob as before – but now it was scattered through with golden sparkles.

"What are you doing here?" Winter asked them as they flew happily around her head in spite of the vicious, swirling wind.

Summer listened for the answer. "Oh, you found out during the party? Well, that's nice. You've got lots of friends now."

"Mm. How are you holding up?" She nodded a few times at varying intervals while listening. "We know. It's very easy to stick together here. I'm surprised the ground we walk on doesn't warp on contact."

"What if it does?" Summer pondered. She took off her red wedge sandals, frowning when the soles of her feet touched the frigid rock. "It's cold, but it's still rock."

"Good to know." Winter poked at the opalescent cloud. "We haven't forgotten about you. Just be patient with us." A smile appeared as the blob tried to hug them both. "You're welcome. I'm happy the little ones have found a home."

"Yes!" Summer agreed, slipping her shoes back on. "Now if we can just figure out why you were in the hospital in the first place... and why there's magic everywhere else..."

She scratched at her ebony hair with a sigh. "And how to get it home. I wish I knew how to approach Stan besides just asking him. Or tearing the place apart."

"You know, sometimes there's no substitute for a punch!" Winter's annoyed glance made her smile. "You get my point. I don't want to upend Dipper and Mabel's lives by flattening their home either."

"Especially since it seems someone may have tried that before." The blue-eyed woman waved toward the surface as a thought occurred. "Before we go, how long have you been down here?" She frowned at the answer. "Makes sense. I suppose it would be hard to tell time in a place like this. I was just curious. We're heading up. Hang in there."

The blob bounced happily and faded away, taking the gold twinkles with it into the darkness. As it had the last time, it gave the twins a powerful boost back toward the surface, but now they rode it full speed all the way to the top until they shot from the pit like cannonballs. They slowed to a stop about fifty feet above the clearing, scouring it for witnesses. Upon seeing none, they dropped to the earth and started for their car. "So, what? Do we just sit out here and wait for them?" Summer inquired on the way.

"I've got nothing better to do, do you?"

"Hey!"

The twins looked around for the source of the greeting; it was Dipper's voice, but he was nowhere to be found until they looked up. He waved to them from a platform halfway up the roof, then took a sip from a can of Pitt. "Nice morning, huh? What's up? Wait... did something bad happen?"

"No," Winter assured him loudly. She nodded to her sister. "Come on." They flung themselves into the air, easily reaching his perch.

"Gah!" he yelped, stumbling back as they landed. "You can do that! You did it!"

"Well, yes, why couldn't we?" Summer asked curiously. "We can affect ourselves. We are made of matter."

"I guess that makes sense." He caught his breath and sat on the lounge chair. "So, what is up? I mean, besides you guys. Ha! Heh."

Winter brushed his joke aside with a frown. "May as well get this over with... we want to look into something. You might want to come along."

"You probably won't like it, though," her sister added.

Dipper's brow furrowed deeply. "I already don't. What?"

"The hospital."

He stared at them in disbelief. "Why? It's over. It collapsed. The ghosts are free. We are done there. I don't think Mabel could handle revisiting it. I don't think I can."

Summer nodded forlornly. "I know, but what we saw weren't ghosts. At least, we're pretty sure. They felt like little wisps of the same power we have."

"Ah—bu—what? What would they be... why would... frack!" he exploded, not sounding too different from his sister when she would lose her cool the same way. "Oh. Oh boy. If they were the same, then... what does that mean?"

"We have no idea," Winter replied, sitting on the edge of the platform. Her sister followed suit shortly afterward. "It seems to be the oldest unusual phenomenon in Gravity Falls. At least, that we know of. It could be a good place to start."

"Yeah." Dipper ran fingers through his hair while thinking. "If the Duskertons were right, that creep started murdering kids in the 1940s. Ugh. I feel sick."

"Do you think he might have a ghost we could talk to?" Summer asked. "I wonder where he's buried. Nothing I looked at ever said."

There was no getting away from the topic now, but he still pouted and groaned about it a little longer. "Depends on where he died."

Winter glanced back at him over her shoulder. "In the prison."

"Really? I think... I think I saw something on Gideon's stupid reality show about how they have a prisoner cemetery. If the family doesn't want the body, they end up burying them there."

"Hmm. We could have a chat with him while we're there," Winter decided.

Dipper fell back onto the lounge chair with a sigh. "Just when I thought I couldn't hate this idea more."

Summer's face screwed up. "Eh, maybe we should fly solo together on this one, sister."

"Fly solo... together?" he blinked. "I know it's twinspeak, it just seems weird not hearing it from Mabel."

"Hearing what from me?" They looked over as she emerged from the entry, still clad in her sleep shirt and halfway falling as she got up off the ladder. It looked like a hurricane had been spinning in her mousy locks. "Hey, don't judge my bedhead. I gotta lot of hair to manage."

"I'm not," he assured her. Winter opened her mouth to speak, but he waved her off. "I got it, I got it. Hey, Mabel, it looks like we might have our first investigation."

She perked up while rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Ooo! I'm exc—give me a second." A massive yawn split her mouth wide open. "... okay, maybe like a minute."

"They wanna go to the state prison and look at the graveyard."

Her mood darkened in a flash. "Ew. Why? I don't wanna be that close to him. Wait, is he getting transferred to the Moon or something? 'Cause heck yeah, I'd go just to laugh at his stupid face."

"I'm afraid not," Winter cut in. "We want to see if the doctor responsible for the deaths of those children is buried there. And... we want to have a talk with Gideon if possible."

"Bu-bu-bu-bu-bu..." Mabel stammered, lip trembling. "I'm... I'm gonna go lie back down and cry if you don't mind."

"You don't have to go," Dipper reassured her. "She doesn't have to go, does she? Do I?"

"Mm." Winter crossed her arms and frowned. "I'm not sure they'll let us into the cemetery. We might have to break in."

Summer couldn't help but snicker. "Breaking into a prison? Oh. I've done stranger things, I guess."

"Why do you even care?" Mabel demanded sleepily. "I mean, I had just kinda forgotten a little bit about Jerkface McBabykiller."

"Because the things we saw apparently weren't ghosts, they were magic, and they want to know why – actually the more I think about it the more I kinda want to know too," Dipper realized. "Has there been magic in Gravity Falls for fifty years? Seventy? Longer?"

"Good question." Winter rested her elbows on her knees and looked up at the misty blue sky. "Maybe it originates with the fairies. Maybe not. Either way, I'd like to know."

He slumped in thought. "That entry was from... what, June of 1963? Ew, what a coincidence. Granted, that might be just the first time someone saw them and recorded it, though." A glance at Mabel made his head tilt. She seemed to be out on her feet. "Hey. Hey? You still with me?"

"I'm listening," she grunted. "Magic baby fairies founded Gravity Falls in 1963. Got it." She began to tip, so Dipper stood up and eased her down onto the floor. "This bed sucks even worse than I remem—zzzz..."

Dipper smiled at her snoring. "Why does she even bother? I'm the early bird. She's the... I don't even know what kind of bird she is."

"How cute!" Summer giggled. Even Winter had to smirk. "You sleep. Winter and I will handle this."

"All right. Hey, ah, would you..." His voice got low. "Would you turn Gideon into a frog? If possible. And for the love of Nobel take a picture."

"If no one's looking," Winter agreed with a faint grin. "We might get mad at him if he's as bad as it seems."

"Oh, trust me, he's the worst. Good luck – wait!" His heart jumped into his throat as they pushed themselves off the roof abruptly. Upon running over and looking down, however, he saw they were just fine. "Oh, yeah. You're superheroes or sorceresses or whatever. Never mind," he grumbled with amazement, watching as they walked toward their car.

While Summer drove through Gravity Falls, Winter used her phone to learn as much about the State Prison as possible. Every pause for a red light brought curious looks or happy waves from the passersby. A few even took pictures.

"They're so happy to see us," Summer pointed out with a smile. "Maybe fame isn't so bad."

Her sister didn't even look up. "Perhaps. For now."

"...you are such a pessimist."

"I'm realistic. You will be too, one of these days." Her eyes lit up. "There are visiting hours from noon to four PM each day. It shouldn't be hard to get in if the IDs we forged are sufficient."

She nodded along with the music from the radio. "I'll let you make sure of that. What would be plan B?"

"It's not like the fence can stop us."

Summer grinned brightly. "How exciting."

Their journey continued north, past the affluent areas and onto a winding road surrounded by evergreens. Winter was too busy mining for information to speak much; her sister was too busy enjoying the drive. "Hold on," the blue-eyed woman said. "I've found a list of people buried at the prison."

"Oh?"

Her face dropped with annoyance. "Our man isn't on it."

Summer let off the gas slightly, as if unsure whether the trip was still worth making. "Well then. We can still talk to Gideon, right?"

She shrugged her agreement and put her phone away. "Might as well. He has some relationship with the Pines. Let's go see what it is."

After a few minutes more of wandering through the evergreens, their destination came into view. Formed from the most depressing-looking concrete that Oregon had to offer, Gravity Falls State Prison was somehow less cheerful than the pictures suggested. Even the trees surrounding it seemed to be dulled gray. There was a guard in the sole tower, and the whole complex was wrapped up in the tender embrace of the tallest, beefiest chain-link fence they'd yet seen. In fact, as they got closer, a sign proclaimed it to be electrified.

"Have you ever been electrocuted?" Winter asked as they drove past that sign.

She hesitated to arrange the memories before replying with a nod. "A couple of times. It makes you feel a little weird."

"Maybe I'll grab the fence just to see what it's like. Let's drive by and see what the security situation is."

"Sure."

What she found wasn't encouraging. Cameras were mounted on almost every corner, along with a few searchlights. Guards with dogs – and shotguns – patrolled the perimeter fence on both sides. The top of the fence bore dense spirals of razor wire. "Well, this is annoying. If they do a background check and find out we don't technically exist..." Her face went blank. "Then again, nobody seemed to mind my shady nature when I purchased the house."

Summer squinted at the curves ahead. "Gold blinds people, I think. I'm going to pull off up here."

"All right. Give me your license." She took it and, along with her own, compared it to a picture on her phone. "It all looks like it's in order." Her eyes glanced over all the details – she paid special attention to the address listed to make sure she had it right. "I've never seen a place so driven by documentation," she groaned. In short order, though, a thought made her smile. "I take that back. I've seen one place."

Her sister knew exactly which and started to laugh. "No kidding! She'd be right at home here."

Winter joined her in giggling for a moment. "Oh, I needed that. Let's just see what happens. As long as we can get in, we can move around and cause enough confusion to draw attention away from ourselves."

They decided to leave their car for the meantime and walk briskly back to the prison. The sparks of Gravity Falls were clustered in the distance off to their right, still easily detectable due to the utter lack of anything else nearby. Despite the blue sky above, the air was heavy and grave. "How... pleasant," Summer said quietly. The guardhouse protecting the front gate of the prison was just ahead. "Here goes nothing."

Winter shook her head once. "Not yet. It's too early for them to let us in, but we can at least get a feel for the process." They peeked in through the window, where a male guard sat reading a newspaper.

"Visiting hours start at noon," he droned. And that was it, even after the twins stood there for a moment.

"Oh." Winter, blank-faced, walked away from the prison. Summer only followed a few seconds later. "I'm underwhelmed."

"Seriously." Sound from behind drew their attention. The gate opened for a bus leaving the complex, which paused at the guardhouse. After waiting on it to move for a few seconds, they gave up and kept walking. "Now what?"

Winter just shrugged. "I don't know. I suppose we wait."

"Mrm." Summer looked up as the bus drove past. A particularly pasty-faced boy with enormous white hair caught her eye. "Wait... isn't that..."

All she needed was a glance to confirm it. "Get to the car!" she commanded, breaking into a dash. By staying close to the side and using little bursts of power to keep up their speed, they managed to arrive at their BMW just as the bus did. Summer slapped the car into gear with surprising haste. "You're getting good at this."

"I had a good teacher," Summer replied, smiling at her as she put pedal to metal. The chase was on. Because of the sensation the twins knew the bus was heading back toward Gravity Falls, but not the same way they'd used to leave it. This road had fewer curves and a distinct downward pitch – and seemingly even less traffic. After a few minutes of driving through the endless trees, the bus came to a stop in a small park. 'Park' might have been generous; it was more or less a large clearing with four picnic tables and a small brick building near the back. Summer brought the car to rest a distance away.

"That's definitely him," Winter said, watching about twenty guards usher six prisoners, including Gideon, toward the center of the area. "What's going on?"

"I have no..." she paused as cameramen emerged from the bus. "Oh! That show!"

Her eyes narrowed as she opened the door. "Well, the audience will have to wait."

"All right, friends!" Gideon called over the general murmurs of the crowd. "As soon as daddy gets here – and heaven help me, if there's nuts in that ice cream again I will destroy him – we can begin the filming!" When he glanced over and saw the twins coming, his tone became a lot less friendly. "I thought this place was cleared! Get them out of here! Now! Nooooooooow!"

"Uh, this is a public park," one of the guards advised nervously.

"And?" he snapped back. "My tax dollars paid for it! I'm still Gravity Falls' biggest industry and I'm in jail! I own you! I own everything!"

"You don't own us," Winter interrupted loudly. All eyes went to them as they stepped closer. "I thought the photos were kidding. Where's the rest of your skeleton?" she asked.

Gideon waddled closer, a bitter sneer on his face. "Oh! Oho. Gravity Falls' new hotness is here to lord their supremacy over poor little ol' me. Ghosts? Is that the best you've got? Please." The other prisoners, who ranged from huge and burly to even more huge and burly, all collected at his back to offer support.

Summer grinned at their snarling. "Oh no. You're all so big and very, very frightening."

"Oh, darling, you might have the guns, but I have the firepower," he snickered, motioning to the armed guards.

Winter crossed her arms and glared. "We just want to talk for a moment."

"About what? I've nothin' to say to you."

They sprung their trap after sharing a glance. "Not even about Stan Pines?" Summer asked.

"Hmm?" He turned and waved at the other inmates to hush them. "Hold on, boys, hold on. You wanna talk to me about Stanford? Well. Color me curious." After thinking on it a moment, he shrugged. "Why not, there's time to kill. Take five!" He started toward one of the tables. "We'll chat over here. Ghost-Eyes, you keep them in line for me."

"You got it, dog!"

"All right then," he wheezed, once they were all seated. It had taken him much longer to get on the bench. "I gotta stop skippin' leg day. Goodness me." Their looks made him glare. "Don't judge! We all can't look like statues."

"Whatever," Winter sighed. "Let's get to the point."

Gideon tented his fingers and attempted to seize control of the conversation. "Stanford. Why would you care about him, hmm? Unless..." His eyes lit up. "Oh my, is he your competition now?"

"Maybe he is," Summer answered with a dark grin. Winter had to fight hard not to roll her eyes at the show.

Just like that, the polite Gideon had returned. "And you want me to spill what I know? Gladly. I'd give back my American Association of People That People Are Pretty Sure Are Psychics Award just to see him burn." He leaned back as if relaxing into a chair, nearly fell off, and yelped while catching himself. "B-beg your pardon... what do you want to know?"

"Why do you hate him so much?" Winter asked.

He waved a hand and huffed. "Hate's a strong word. We've been business rivals for a long time, but I never really—I'm lyin'. I hate him. I hate him something fierce. He has something I want."

Summer tilted her head. "What? His house is a pile of junk and his car's probably older than both of us combined."

"What I'm after isn't monetary, it's... something else." He would go no farther and looked away. "You wouldn't understand."

"We talk to ghosts. Try us."

Gideon blinked at Summer's assertion. "You're... serious? You can't be. Nobody can talk to ghosts. Don't be ridiculous."

Sensing she needed to give him something to get anywhere, Winter leaned forward and whispered, "We know about the journals. We know you had one."

His demeanor changed yet again, landing somewhere between shocked and friendly. "Well, well. I suppose you're more than pretty faces and colored contacts, aren't you?" He tilted closer to Summer. "I do like the red. Suits you. I oughta try some when I get out. Add a little flair to my persona."

Her face screwed up with disdain. "Can we talk about what we're talking about, please? I heard you tried to kill the Pines."

"Only once! And I only really wanted to kill that boy." He crossed his arms and pouted, though the look faded with time. "I don't think shrinking someone counts as trying to kill them. I'm sure my lawyers would agree. Now I admit, the robot situation is a little bit more prickly, but..."

Winter was glowering by this point. She nudged her sister for attention. "We're getting nowhere. Let's just wipe them all out and search the Shack."

"D-don't you dare hurt Mabel!" Gideon squeaked angrily. "Feel free to kill the rest of them, of course – heck, have my blessing and send me some pictures – but you leave my queen alone!"

His outburst had given time for Summer to catch onto the act. "They obviously have something we want. If they won't play nice, we'll just take it from them."

There was no stopping the tantrum. "No! It's mine! It's mine!" He panted with agitation for several seconds. "Listen, we can work together. I'll be out in a month or two. They can't possibly stop the three of us! With your biceps and my cute-as-the-Dickens chubby cheeks, we can do anything!"

Winter stared him down. "We'll consider it. In the meantime, we were wondering about something else. You've heard about the General Hospital, I assume."

Gideon shuddered with disgust. "I hear whispers. Hmm... if you'll leave the shack – and Mabel – alone, I'll give you a ghost tip: I know for a fact the good doctor was secretly buried in the cemetery in Gravity Falls. Not too far from a lot of his victims, either. They say he haunts the place." He paused to glare at a ladybug crawling up the arm of his orange jumper. "It's almost ironic. You've no idea the amount of hush money I've gotten to keep that little tidbit quiet." As he snickered, a car pulled in and distracted him. "Daddy's here, so I'm afraid I must be off. It was such a... pleasure meeting you both. Bye for now!"

They didn't return his goodbye and walked straight back to their car. Once inside, they watched the camera crew get set up. "Now we know something's in the Mystery Shack," Winter sighed.

"True. And we have a new place to visit." Summer buckled up with a smile – and then lost her chipper mood. "Hrng. I didn't like being mean, even if it was an act. I'd never hurt them. You know that, right?"

Winter squeezed her hand. "Of course. I wouldn't either."

"We've come such a long way." They pondered the cheerful, puffy clouds in silence. "...but we still have a long way to go. Then again, I read something about how even long journeys begin with a single step."

The blue-eyed woman cocked a brow. "You read?"

"Sure. You like it so much, I started doing it too." Now the smiles were back. "I think we're bonding."

"Mm. I suppose our vacation isn't a total loss after all." She smirked as Summer began to drive back to town. "Let's see what Mabel and Dipper say about tagging along."

"We're going there now?"

"No, I don't want all of Gravity Falls snooping. We'll wait until nightfall." She drew her phone, dialed and put it on speaker.

"Mystery Shack!" Mabel greeted loudly. "Pay for six eyeballs and the seventh is free!"

The twins groaned with disgust. "It's us," Summer advised. "You're open on Saturday?"

"We sure are! It's our biggest 'volume day', whatever that means. I don't think it's any louder than any other day, but what do I know? I'm too busy being awesome. What's up?"

"Summer and I are going to pay a visit to the cemetery tonight. Are you two interested?"

"Hrm. Why? No, wait, the reason's gonna make me sad, isn't it."

Winter's shoulders slumped a bit. "It is about that, yes."

"Nope! Nope, nope, heck nope. I ain't talking to anyone about that anymore, dead or alive. Forget it. Don't wanna, not happening, good night and good luck, sisters." Dipper was barely audible in the background. "They're going to the graveyard, bro. Yeah, it's about that. I'm not going. Are you?" There was a pause. "He's not going if I'm not. Sorry."

"It's all right, I understand. We can handle it alone." Her blue eyes widened. "While I've got you... I should confess. We can't actually talk to ghosts."

"Y'all are fakin' it?! Hold on." Some odd sounds came next, including a muffled conversation between the Pines.

Dipper spoke next, and his words were stern. "You told us you've always heard the voices of the dead. Which is it?"

"Oh, we do!" Summer assured him. "But, um... it's complicated. And it..." Her voice began to break. "It hurts."

His wince was almost audible. "Okay okay no no wait, wait, don't cry! You can explain later. Or not. You don't have to. But thanks for being honest. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she lied, wiping her eyes to see the road. Winter looked just as forlorn, though she managed to stave off tears.

"Good, good. Sorry. Listen, we're still burnt out about the—the stuff. I didn't mean to sound snippy."

"It's all right," Winter assured him again. "We'll tell you what we learned tomorrow, if you want."

"Uh, maybe. I gotta go, Stan's giving me that 'I want to draw angrily on your face with permanent marker' look again. Later."

"Okay. Goodbye." The second she hung up, Summer began to sob. "Pull over before you hurt someone, please."

She obeyed, having just enough sense left to make it to the shoulder and put the car in park before her emotions came apart. "It's always there!" she screamed, crumpling in half until her head rested on the wheel. "Always in the back of my mind! My brain is never quiet!"

"Neither is mine," was all Winter had to offer. Her eyes were squeezed shut.

"And then it says it's sorry and it's not my fault... it tries to help me feel better." She gasped for air, only to spend the breaths on more bitter weeping. "How do you deal with it? You never cry."

Oh how she tried to keep calm, but the sadness poured forth anyway. "I don't cry as loudly, no," she joked weakly, trying in vain to deflect her anguish. "I've accepted what I've become. That doesn't mean I accept what those two did to me."

"If I hadn't... if..." Summer fell back in the seat and stared ahead. "We survived being lost. Everything else..."

"Is their fault? That's how I feel."

An icy silence fell for several moments. Summer placed a hand on her stomach and started to rub. "Sometimes I wonder if this stuff is the only thing keeping me sane."

"Maybe so. We have enough to battle with, don't you think? Don't fight something that's always been a part of you."

Summer looked over and blinked; Winter was just as much a red-faced wreck as she, and yet there was a tiny smile on her face. "What?"

She turned away and stared out the side window. "There was a time I hated it too. It just wants to help you. Let it."

"I..." While the tears had stopped flowing, the space they left was quickly filled by a cold lump of sadness. Soon, that became disgust. "They really did do this to us. I think understand why you hate them."

"Mm. Look on the bright side, though."

"What bright side?!"

Winter turned back, staring her directly in the eyes. "At least we're no longer suffering through it alone."