Chapter Eight: Believe in me

Paris was alive with light like Mabel had never seen before. She pointed out everything she thought was exciting to Bill, finding herself more attached to him than ever before. They never talked about what happened the other night, and Bill never asked what she meant about a curse, but then again, he already knew about the curse. If Tad thought anything was different about the two of them, he didn't say anything about it.

"First, we see Soos and talk to him. If he believes that you're the princess, then you get to see your uncle." Tad explained. Mabel swallowed thickly, nodding slightly.

"What if he doesn't though?" Mabel twisted her napkin in her lap. They had stopped in a small cafe to get something to eat, Mabel trying pastries and coffee for the first time that she could ever remember.

"He will." Bill reassured, taking the napkin out of her hands before she could destroy it.

Barely an hour later Mabel was in her favorite dress, the red one that Bill had liked, standing outside the house that Soos apparently lived in with his grandmother. Mabel softly ordered Waddles to stay outside, just so that she wouldn't be distracted when she was so nervous. The pig had protested, but still did as asked and went to take a nap on the porch and out of the way.

"Tad?" A large man opened the door, but he already had a smile on his face and seemed so welcoming that it made Mabel relax slightly. It's been so long! Where have you been, man?"

Tad laughed and invited himself in without waiting for Soos. Mabel and Bill followed after, only looking at the small home and wondering why someone who worked for someone so prestigious had to live in such a small house.

"Tad met Soos the last time we were back in Paris. Turns out they grew up close to one another." Bill said softly to Mabel as they went inside. "Gives us a good start on this adventure, doesn't it?"

"I've been busy, Soos. Speaking of which, we found her!" Tad grabbed Mabel's shoulders, turning to present her to Soos as though she was a fine meal. "It took ages to get here, but we found Princess Mabel after all these years."

Giving one small, forced smile at Soos, she shrugged off Tad's hands and presented her own. Soos only shook her hand, thankfully not kissing it, but he did start to evaluate her right away.

"Where've you been hiding?" Soos led her to sit down, Tad sitting next to her and Bill leaning against the wall. "I don't want to put Stan through another faker."

Mabel took a deep breath, trying to prepare herself for this quiz. Bill nodded reassuringly when she glanced at him, and Mabel felt like she could do this.

"I woke up in an orphanage, by the city. I didn't remember anything other than just waking up." Mabel explained, feeling a bit bad for the lie. She didn't remember anything yet, but it was sure to come, wasn't it? She just needed that small little jumpstart in her memory.

"You remember now, don't you?" Soos asked, getting them all a glass of water. "What do you remember?"

Mabel took to wringing her hands together once more, wishing that she had a napkin or a piece of paper that she could tear to pieces. It would be so easy to mess this up, all she had to do was say the wrong word, and any link she might have to her family would be severed.

"I remember everything." Mabel almost missed the proud grin from Bill. "I remember my brother most of all though."

"I was so close!" Gideon screeched, watching through a portal made of mirrors and water below him. Mabel and Bill embraced on a ship, Mabel sobbing from her nightmare and Bill gently reassuring her. "All she had to do was jump! That stupid boy, I should have killed him that night."

Gideon felt even more anger wash through him as Bill hugged Mabel after her nightmare, coaxing her down from hysteria and finally carrying her back to their cabin. Mabel had gotten away from him twice now just because of that stupid Bill Cipher, and Gideon regretted not killing him more than he felt any regret over killing the rest of the Pines.

"Why do you do that? Are you trying to kill her or make her marry you?" Ghost Eyes hadn't been talkative since he returned from his battle that left his skin raw, but he spoke up now. "You'd make a great ruler without her, why do you have to have her?"

"You don't understand! It's about the point! It's about this!" Gideon grabbed his necklace, shaking it in front of Ghost Eyes face. "I have to finish the curse!"

"You keep talking about that stupid curse. You've already killed most of them, why not just let her be?" Ghost Eyes sighed and leaned his head on his hand.

"The curse! The one I put on the Pines?" When Ghost Eyes just looked confused, Gideon sighed. "They ignored me, those two old men, and I had to get my revenge. I told them I could make them great, and did they listen? Of course they didn't!"

"So I researched. I looked through so many books, read so much, and I found out something." Gideon almost cackled, but it sounded forced, almost frantic. "You can take a part of your soul and embed it in something, and it will become so much more powerful than before. You have to have a task in mind, a goal, otherwise it won't work, and if you don't complete the task, you die." Gideon explained. "I vowed to kill the Pines, but I was allowed to spare one. When Mabel becomes mine, I'll end her uncle, if she won't, then she has to die, or the curse won't be complete."

He carefully tucked the pendant underneath the collar of his shirt, almost looking anxious. It was hard to stand by a decision he had made when he was only a young man, but Gideon was backed into a corner. Fueled by rage and greed, his only options were going forward with the decisions he had made.

"She's heading to Paris." Ghost Eyes eventually mumbled out. "That's where the train she was on was headed. I think we both know what she's looking for there. I think you need to find a way to let this go."

"It's too late now." Gideon wasn't the same boy who had spouted words of hate. The place where his soul had been, was filled with hate and fear. "I will have her at my side or six feet underground."

"Dipper...I miss him." Mabel said softly, spending hours talking to Soos and just learning more about herself from the information the man would let slip. "I mean, it all feels like my fault, if Gideon hadn't…"

Soos nodded empathetically, reaching out to place his arm around her in an awkward hug. He was large and squishy, and Mabel instantly fell in love with his hug. Gideon had singled her out by letting everyone know that she was the one he wanted to keep alive. She felt more guilt than she could ever describe, but not because of Gideon. There was a reason why she couldn't remember just yet, something that brushed along her memory and made her heart ache every time she thought about her brother. Mabel pushed the feelings aside and labeled it as longing for her brother.

"It's not your fault, Mabel." Soos reassured softly. "Well, you've answered all of my questions. I only got one more for you. How did you escape the palace that night?"

Behind her, Bill had been paying more attention to what decorated the mantle than what Soos was asking her, but now he snapped to attention. Mabel frowned in thought, trying to think of what that night must have been like, fleeing in fear for her life and only there with her brother.

"There...There was this boy." Mabel said softly, looking down at her hands. "He opened the wall."

"The wall?" Soos asked, not sure if he had heard right. Mabel smiled awkwardly, knowing it was true but immediately doubting herself because of Soos' reaction.

"Sorry, that just sounds silly. We ran, of course. Dipper didn't make it."

They dissolved into conversation that was more lighthearted than before, Soos telling her about what Stanley had been up to since she had left, and how Stan had never once stopped searching for her. Tad looked over from the pair sitting on the couch to Bill, who was staring at Mabel in shock. The only people who knew how they survived that night were those who lived it, and Bill had never told anyone. Stan kept that secret to himself, and Gideon didn't talk to anyone but his followers. There was only one way that she could actually know about that, because he had never told her.

She was really her. This wasn't an act anymore. Mabel was the lost princess that so many people had been searching for, that Bill had convinced himself was dead. Tad sent his cousin a small smile, turning back to look at the two.

"So do I pass? Can I see him?" Mabel asked excitedly, knees bouncing for just a moment. Soos grinned at her enthusiasm before his face dropped, looking down at his own lap and unable to meet her gaze.

"Sorry, Mabel, but Stan refuses to see anyone else. He doesn't want to get hurt again." Soos explained after a moment of silence. Mabel visibly deflated at the news, any and all excitement leaving her.

"What? But, this is her! He'll know the moment he sees her." Bill walked forward, pushing himself off the wall and putting his hand on Mabel's shoulder.

"It's his orders, man, I can't do anything." Soos only shrugged. "Sorry."

"It's not your fault." Mabel said, her voice a bit weak. "I should have expected as much."

There was silence, and Bill gave Mabel's shoulder a gentle squeeze before he pulled back, leaving her on her own. Here he was, sitting in the presence of royalty and Bill hardly knew how to handle it. He was finally seeing the girl he had saved all those years ago, but she had no idea.

"You can't do anything?" Tad eventually broke the silence, standing along with Bill. "He doesn't go out, he doesn't go anywhere that Mabel could just 'run into him' at?"

Soos rubbed his chin in thought, trying to think of anywhere that Stan could be going. The old man didn't get out much, but sometimes he did go out to see the shows, because he thought Mabel would have liked them.

"Well, there is one play he's going to see tomorrow. If you wait outside the private booth he has, I might be able to buy you a couple minutes." Soos grinned. "That's all I can do for you."

"Thank you!" Mabel excitedly beamed, reaching forward and wrapping her arms around him in a hug. "Thank you so much!"

Soos laughed and hugged her back, but while Mabel felt excited she also felt nerves immediately sink into her stomach. One chance. She had one chance to meet her uncle and hopefully make him see that they could really be related, that whatever search they had for family might end in just a day.

"Tomorrow night, they're performing Swan Lake at The Théâtre du Châtelet. Get tickets, and see the ballet. Right after it, we'll come right up to his booth, thank you." Bill took Mabel's hand, pulling her slightly away from Soos. "We have to get ready."

"Thank you Soos!" Mabel just couldn't stop smiling, still holding Bill's hand in excitement as they left the house.

Soos waved at them as they left, smiling just as brightly as she was. If there was any girl over the years that he had met who actually had a chance at being the lost princess, it was her, and at the very least, Soos could say he tried. He wanted Stan to be happy just like everyone else.