Hello, everybody!

Huh. Well. Now is when I could list a slew of elaborate and completely valid reasons for why I've been gone so long. That being said, I'm going to skip all of that, as you are here to read a fic, not be my personal therapy session; instead, I shall simply jump straight to the part where I beg your forgiveness for the month's absence. Like I said last time, this story is not discontinued or even on hiatus; it is simply struggling to fit into my life right now. I'm doing my best ^.^

That being said, I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Phineas and Ferb.

CHAPTER NINE:

When It Rains

Phineas and Ferb raced across an expanse of farmland, away from the havoc of the town. It was chaos back there. The baker had chased them for half the way before his enlarged gut finally slowed him down and convinced him to give up.

"On the bright side," Phineas wheezed, "you're not exactly a 'green-'aired devil' with so much flour on you."

Ferb rolled his eyes. That was just great… because white-haired ghost was so much better.

With a few more minutes of running, they were greeted with a wall of trees that extended into the forest. They both nearly tumbled to a stop, gasping for air. When they managed to regain a little of their breath, Phineas broke the silence.

"So… what did you—do to that one guy?" He gestured to his front teeth to show what he was talking about.

Ferb smirked, then pantomimed a swing with the rolling pin.

"Wow," Phineas laughed. "You must have really nailed him!"

Ferb nodded. He of course wasn't really one for violence, but knowing he managed to accomplish what he had filled him with pride. It should teach those thugs to mess with his family. Speaking of which, he needed to check on Isabel. Before he could gesture for her, though, his brother spoke again.

"You know, we could really make a fun game out that. Where you swing the stick, only one end could be blunt instead of a handle. Maybe you could even toss a ball in there. The objective could be to hit the ball, sending it flying. Then you have to run around stones, which could act as some sort of bases, and make it back home!" Phineas beamed. "We could call it… pinball!"

Ferb's head lilted to the side; really? Leave it to his brother to walk away from what they just did with an idea for some new game. It was so… Phineas.

"What?" he chuckled. "Take out the mortal danger, and it could be fun!" He wagged his eyebrows impishly. "You know you want to try it."

Ferb shook his head at his brother's antics, but smiled nonetheless. He had to keep them on track, though. They were on a time limit—one they already pushed to the breaking point. He nodded his head to the forest, asking him where they needed to go next.

"Bad news on that front, bro." Phineas stumbled up to a tree, stretching his arms up and leaning against them. "The map was lost when those goons attacked us the first time." He shook his head to clear his fatigue and stood upright again, pressing forward. "It's not that big of a loss, though, considering how outdated it was. We should just look for a river and follow that. It should work, right?"

Ferb always admired his brother's optimism. It never wavered, even after the cruddy day they'd been having. Phineas always had the best day ever, which was one of the things Ferb loved about him the most—but it also blinded him to the reality of things sometimes. Yes, the map was outdated, but at least it was something. The notion that all they could do was stumble around blindly with the hopes of finding a river that just might lead them to the Lady of the Lake… He couldn't stand it.

His eyes shot to the sky. How long had that taken them? How many hours had passed? Too many. They might have already run out of time. That thought made his eyes snap to Phineas' hood. His stomach twisted. Suddenly his separation from the little sprite became too much to bear.

He stretched an arm out in front of Phineas to stop him. His brother raised an eyebrow at him, which quickly fell in concern at whatever was showing on Ferb's face.

"Can I have her back now?" he said softly.

For once, Phineas didn't say anything. He nodded, then turned his back to his brother, inviting him to take the sprite. Ferb pulled Isabel from the hood, cupping her in his palms.

He died inside.

Isabel's wings were almost entirely black. She wasn't even shivering or trembling anymore, lying completely still. He felt her forehead and found it was no longer hot, but had cooled drastically. This was the picture of death.

Ferb reached out for his brother, grasping the air blindly until he felt Phineas' hand on his upper arm. He needed the stability. He also needed some optimism. He blinked down at his brother, letting all of his anguish show.

"She's got to still be breathing," Phineas replied, taking a step closer to study their small friend. "I know I haven't seen her for a long time, but the Isabel I knew wouldn't give up without a fight. She's got to still be alive."

Ferb's eyes shot to the forest in front of him, then back to his brother. Even if that was true…

"I know," Phineas sighed. "I know, Ferb. What do we do from here? We'll never make it to Lake Avalos in time."

The sun was nearly set. They were supposed to almost be there by then, not lost in the middle of a forest—with Isabel dying. What could they do? They had to do something! They always had something… some potion, or last minute save. They couldn't possibly be out of time, could they?

Ferb twisted his arm around, positioning it so he could hold on to his brother's shoulder. He met his gaze.

"You're the idea person," he tried to say. It came out weak and barely audible, but given it had more volume than nearly anything else he communicated, Phineas didn't appear to have any problems understanding.

"I know, and I'm trying." Phineas took a step forward, closing his eyes and pressing his fingers to his temple. He started muttering, "What to do? What to do?" for a minute before he fell silent. He stood there for another minute. Ferb knew better than to interrupt.

They registered the noise at the exact same time—the gentle trickle of water across stone. Phineas' head snapped up. A river! Well, neither of them knew how it could help them, but they had nothing else to go on. They took off, turning this way and that, trying to follow the sound. It was soft, barely noticeable, and it wasn't until Phineas stepped down in something wet that they even realized they found it.

"Well, um," Phineas rubbed the back of his neck. "It's really more of a rivulet than a river." He was right. It was tiny, not even a foot wide, streaming over pebbles, twigs, and leaves with a persistence mightier than its size. "But she's a water sprite, isn't she? Maybe you can put her in, and it'll heal her."

It was a long shot, but Ferb didn't hesitate dipping his hands into the little brook, letting the water wash over Isabel. The tip of her right wing twitched. Nothing else happened. They stood there until the sun was nearly gone, but there was no change.

"I really thought… I don't know, I thought the Lady of the Lake might have some ability to long-distance heal her, or something." Phineas sighed and fell to his knees. "I just… I don't know what else we can do."

Phineas looked over to Ferb, and the older saw tears welling up in the younger's eyes. He looked back down. Phineas never gave up, and seeing that look on his face… Ferb pressed his eyes closed.

He couldn't let it end like this. He couldn't just let Malifishmirtz win, and he couldn't lose Isabel. He, too, had been hoping the Lady would somehow heal the sprite when she touched the water. A small, bitter voice in the back of his mind questioned if maybe the Lady knew Isabel had been banished from the sprite camps, and simply didn't care. He tried to dismiss that, though. The Lady of the Lake… well maybe it was just that; she needed a lake.

And that was it. The idea sparked. He pressed Isabel into Phineas' stunned hands and started digging around the sides and bottom of the rivulet, grabbing any and all large rocks he could find.

"Ferb?" Phineas questioned, a smile already tracing across his face.

In response, Ferb motioned to Isabel, silently telling him to watch after her while he handled it. He built up a miniature barrier of rocks, disrupting the flow of the little stream. Water still leaked through, but he managed to cause a build up, the water swelling beyond its usual course into a small, circular pool.

It wasn't a lake. It was far from a lake. But it was a good enough puddle.

"Vanessa!" he called out, and Phineas jumped.

"Vanessa?"

Ferb smacked his forehead. Duh! "Lady of the Puddle," he corrected. "Lady of the Puddle, we need you!"

Nothing happened. He felt anger and frustration boiling up inside him. He opened his mouth to yell something, but Phineas beat him to the punch.

"Oh, come on!" he cried. "She's a sprite, isn't she? You should look over her, not be a jerk and—"

Ferb slapped a hand over his brother's mouth. The surface of the water gleamed, then erupted upward. The brothers fell back, blocking their eyes from the water flying everywhere. Ferb felt the flour coating him congealing into a thick, gloppy mess, but he didn't care.

"Ferbalot," came a voice they hadn't heard in eight years.

"Vanessa!" He shot to his feet, pulling his brother up right after. Phineas gave him Isabel, and he looked up to the glowing blue maiden. She hadn't changed at all despite the years. "Vanessa, please you have to help us."

She raised her eyebrow like she couldn't believe they knew her name. Ferb was suddenly worried he might have offended her, but then she muttered, "whatever." She cleared her throat, and when she spoke again, her voice rang out with the same subtle majesty it did years before. "I have heard your call for help, my champion, and I have answered."

Ferb looked to his brother, who stared back. Dumb luck. Their life was pure, irrational dumb luck. Phineas stepped forward.

"We have a sprite who's sick. It's—"

"Isabel," Vanessa cut him off, her eyes finally resting on the girl in Ferb's hands. "The fog has gotten her, too?"

"Yes," Phineas replied immediately, "Malifishmirtz's fog. Please, if you know any way of healing her…"

The Lady of the Puddle hesitated. "Isabel is not the only one affected. All the sprites across the kingdom have fallen ill. My mother managed to save many of them, using her magic to bring them to Lake Avalos, but many have been lost as well."

"How did she save them?" Phineas asked, his hand once again finding his brother's shoulder.

Vanessa bit her lip. She tapped her fingers together nervously. "I'm not sure I should say."

That hung in the air. Both boys blinked. It was rare for Phineas to become testy or mad, but he crossed his arms indignantly.

"This is the sprite who led us to Excaliferb and helped defeat Malifishmirtz. Not telling us is like sentencing her to death. You couldn't possibly want that."

Vanessa started. "I—no! It's just, well…"

"Please tell us," Phineas pleaded. His tone softened, and Ferb knew his eyes had, too. He usually hated when his brother did this; it was impossible to deny him anything with those big baby blues staring at you like that. What made it worse was that when Phineas did it, one knew it was always free of manipulation. It was completely genuine and thus frustratingly infallible. "Please."

This time, Ferb loved the Phineas Stare. Vanessa caved quicker than that mountain had on their first quest.

"She... removed their wings," she stated hesitantly. Phineas' jaw dropped.

"Removed their wings? How is that even possible? Wouldn't that kill them?"

"No," she refuted quickly. "No, not when my mother does it. The wings are the source of sprite magic and also where all the poison is, and because they are part—"

"Part of your mother," Ferb cut her off. "Since sprites' wings are created from one of her raindrops, she can remove them." It was unlike him to barge in when someone else was speaking, but Phineas was too curious for their own good sometimes. He'd look for answers with a forgetfulness of the fact that they didn't have the time. Ferb held up Isabel, tilted his head to the side, then gave his brother a pressing look; can we discuss it after she's been healed?

"Right," Phineas gulped. His hand shot to the back of his neck and he looked down. "So she'll be alright after you remove her wings, right? And once Ferb and I defeat Malifishmirtz, she'll get them back?"

Ferb stared at his brother. He guessed it should have been obvious, but it wasn't until Phineas stated it that it really sunk in; they would once again go after Malifishmirtz. His brother and he would have to take him down. He'd say history was repeating itself if only it were true. In reality, this was already far worse, and he feared it was only the beginning.

He looked back up to Vanessa. The corner of her mouth pulled up and her eyes glimmered with pride and gravity—a confirmation. My champion. It wasn't past tense. It was a charge.

"Your suspicions are correct," she sighed. "Malifishmirtz is behind both the rain and the unearthly fog."

Phineas nudged him, smirking. It wasn't hard to know what he found so funny. Unearthly. Ferb would have smiled, too, if not for the fact that Vanessa had avoided his brother's question about Isabel.

As if beckoned by Vanessa's words, a drop of wetness hit Ferb's nose. He held his hand out. Rain was coming. Regrettably, he doubted the Lady of the Puddle was the one responsible.

"She'll be alright after you remove her wings, right?" he asked again, looking up into her dark brown eyes. He refused to let her avoid his gaze. She bit her lip, and the water from her core down started rippling nervously. Ferb didn't like whatever was coming.

"The sprites are alright afterwards. They can no longer perform magic, of course. They're pretty much little humans, same as they were, but without wings."

"Great!" Phineas grinned, but Ferb waved him down.

"But…" he sighed. Vanessa fidgeted with the hem of her sleeve, but looked at him with something like approval.

"But I won't be much help to you."

Ferb's fingers curled around the little sprite, shooting a panicked look to his brother. Phineas' arms tightened in front of his chest.

"You mean you don't know the spell?"

"I do know the spell, but… it's complicated. I have only a fraction of my mom's power. It's like… well, it's like a puddle to a lake. A spell of this magnitude—trust me, you don't even want me doing it."

Ferb watched Isabel, only visible in the faint glow of the Lady of the Puddle and the final rays of sunlight weaving through the tree trunks. She wasn't moving. He wasn't even sure if she was breathing. He cleared his throat.

"And if you don't she'll die anyway." He looked back up to Vanessa. Her reluctant face was anything but encouraging, and he wondered what else he could say. Once again, though, Phineas beat him to it.

"You have to." He stood tall, lifting his head with his usual confidence. "She's out of time. It's now or never, and I'd say the former is looking like a far better option than the latter. You want our help defeating Malifishmirtz? Well, we need a sprite guide—wings or not. You have to heal her. Now, Vanessa. Please."

Ferb raised his eyebrow at his little brother, thoroughly impressed. He turned a smirk back to Vanessa, nodding in the redhead's direction like, yeah, what he said.

Vanessa's eyes flickered back and forth between the two before she finally sighed. "You boys really are persistent, huh?"

"Yes. Yes we are." Phineas beamed. "Though our mother calls it 'stubborn.'"

Vanessa smiled, the motion small and brief, before she held out a hand to Ferb. Taking one last glance at the motionless sprite, Ferb surrendered her. Last time he tried to help her, he could see Isabel's face twist into a grimace of pain at every movement. Now she was far, far too still. He felt a pool of guilt boil in the pit of his stomach for not being able to do more.

The Lady of the Puddle gave Isabel a gentle look that startled Ferb. He realized that the two of them must have been friends—years and years ago, before she had been banished. If that really were the case, it brought up one important question; why was she banished? She had friends in high places, especially for such a little sprite. She'd helped defeat Malifishmirtz, just as his brother had said. So how could they do that to her?

Vanessa whispered something they couldn't hear before placing a small kiss on the top of the sprite's head. Shooting one last uncomfortable look at the boys, she bent down to the puddle's edge and laid Isabel on the ground.

Ferb hated how small and alone Isabel looked, her black wings blending well into the darkness of the leaves. She didn't look right without her wings. He also knew she would go crazy without them; she loved flying more than anything. Part of him questioned how he could let Vanessa do this to her, but another how overrode that; how could he let her die?

He wasn't sure what his face was showing at that moment, but Phineas placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"She'll be alright, Ferb," he assured him with a tilted grin.

The Lady of the Puddle closed her eyes. Almost immediately, the water coating her light blue dress and the surface of the ravine rippled with power. A cool breeze swept up around them. She lifted her arms above Isabel and streamers of mist rose, undulating and gliding with the swift motions of Vanessa's hands.

Slowly, the vapor around them trickled into the charcoaled wings on Isabel's back. The impact was immediate; Isabel suddenly crumbled in on herself. It should have made Ferb happy—as terrible as the sight was, it was at least a sign of life—but it was so wrong. Her jerking movements reminded him of the marionettes Phineas and he used to watch at festivals. This new vitality wasn't her own. This wasn't Isabel.

Like a sprite without wings.

Ferb felt like Tackle-man had succeeded in stabbing him earlier. If it weren't for Phineas' increasingly tight grip on his shoulder, he wasn't sure what he would have done. He reached over and put his hand on his brother's.

Just like one of Phineas' potions after catalysis, the obsidian of Isabel's wings flickered, jolting to a misty blue hue. Ferb gulped, his eyes devouring this ever-familiar shade. If they were transforming back to usual, would that mean she could keep them? He knew it was dangerous, but he couldn't fight off the overwhelming sense of hope that crept up inside of him. Misty blue wings, just as they'd always been.

But it didn't end there.

The more intently he stared at the wings, the more he needed to look away. Instead of staying their normal color, they began to shimmer. He expected them to disappear, but that didn't happen. In a burst of light, a series of brilliant colors danced their way across each wing. The effect was too much and far, far too bright. Both brothers had to look away.

"Um… Vanessa…" Phineas called worriedly, blocking his view from the blinding light. "What's going on?"

Ferb shielded his eyes, too, looking to the Lady of the Puddle. She stared at the center of their personal super nova, unblinking. He really didn't like her expression. She glanced at them for half a second, her eyes widening with almost as many emotions as there were colors shifting through the air—surprise, confusion, trepidation, doubt, wonder.

The wind warmed and the mist chilled, and they felt both whipping at their faces with an unexpected ferocity. The water from the rivulet splashed up harshly against the rocks. Vanessa's hands moved rapidly above Isabel, trying to regain control of the situation, but the light from the spell just grew stronger and stronger.

"I… I don't know," she wailed. She looked like she was trying to stop the magic. "I don't—I—"

"You mean this isn't what happens when your mother removes sprites' wings?" Phineas raised his voice, the wind buffering and blowing them back.

"No," Vanessa yelped, her arms flailing over where Isabel lied. "No, and something's wrong. I don't know if I somehow messed up the spell, or—or if something else… all the colors. There's not supposed to be all these colors!"

Ferb wanted to run to the center of the light, to scoop up the little sprite and make sure she was alright, but even looking in her direction made his eyes burn. The wind was pressing against him too fiercely, and the mist that began to form around them made his skin sting with a strange, potent energy.

"Vanessa," he yelled, squeezing his eyes shut, "is she—"

He never finished his words. Before he could, everything stopped. The mist congealing in the air, the gusts, the burning brightness—just like that, it was gone.

Then he heard Isabel groan, the noise as feeble and small as a leaf blowing across the ground. He turned on his heel, desperate to pick her up, but he froze in his tracks the second his eyes found her.

Vanessa covered her mouth, her eyes wide and staring.

Phineas voiced what Ferb could not; "Isabel?"

Review, please!

So. Who wants to take a swing at what happened here? I wasn't trying to be overly covert, but you never know ^.^ Can't wait to hear what you guys think.

I will hopefully be back soon!

~Lilly-Belle