Hello there!
I apologize for the extensive wait. You all have been so incredibly supportive of me and my recovery, and your patience is super appreciated also! On top of putting a lot of effort into my health, this chapter also got delayed because I ended up writing the next seven chapters of my other story Filled to the Brim! So that was super exciting! I'll be posting for that story now, too!
Anyhoo, again, thank you so much for your support. I'm still struggling a bit, but the therapy and treatments I'm pursuing have really helped! I broke my five-month fever and am no longer considered narcoleptic! I can breathe and walk just fine! These are HUGE improvements! I'm still in a state of decay that is alarming for my young age; but I'm very, very hopeful! I'm working hard to get well!
Without further ado: Breaking Point. I hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Phineas and Ferb.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE:
Breaking Point
It was a debate on what to do with Isabel now. She hadn't stirred since they sealed and wrapped her wound, and it didn't look like she'd be waking up any time soon. The last thing they wanted to do was take her into a battle zone. Even if Malifishmirtz was no longer directly targeting her, she would still be in danger.
The only problem? Ferb was certain they would need all of them to fight Malifishmirtz, and there was no way in hell he would leave her alone. They wouldn't be separated. Never again, he would make sure of it.
It was Bufavalous that carried her. Maybe it was all in Ferb's head, but she looked so much smaller, so fragile, draped over his broad back. The fact that her skin still glistened with fresh blood didn't really help the image.
"Uh, Ferb, you've got…" Phineas pointed vaguely to Ferb's face, and his hand lifted to his cheek. He probably had Isabel's blood smeared all over it.
Ferb shook his head in response; it doesn't matter. It wasn't like her blood wasn't everywhere else: on his hands, his arms, his legs, his clothes. Vanessa's patch job on their appearance didn't really last long, but it all served as a reminder of how much Ferb would make Malifishmirtz pay.
But then Phineas stepped forward and ran the edge of his sleeve across Ferb's cheek. Ferb blinked at him, taken aback by the gentle gesture, but his little brother just smiled sadly.
"That's much better," he decided, before nodding toward the door. "Let's go."
They were somber as they made their way toward the door. They knew they were marching directly to Malifishmirtz to finish it all. There weren't really any words for that.
"So how do we find him?" Bufavalous asked, shifting to compensate for Isabel's weight.
Baljeetolus snorted. "Troglodyte."
Bufavalous wheeled on the elf, his demand of, "What?" as cranky as ever, but Baljeetolus only shook his head.
"Is it not obvious?"
This answer clearly fried Bufavalous' brain. He looked about to fling a venomous retort back, when Phineas spoke up.
"The blood, Byoof."
Bufavalous blinked at him, clearly not understanding yet, so Phineas gestured to the floor.
"The blood led us here, right? But if we follow it back, even further from where we first found it—"
"It'll lead us straight to his throne room," Bufavalous finished, his face slack with shock.
"Well, at the very least, it will lead us to the source of the spell," Baljeetolus amended. "Whether that is his throne room or not we do not know, but it will at least lead us to the fount of his new powers, regardless."
"And what do we do with Girlie once we're there?" Bufavalous asked. "You know Mal-Fish Breath's gonna put up a fight. He won't just let us tip his potion over and stroll on out."
Phineas pursed his lips. It was such a dilemma! They couldn't leave her behind, so they, what? Drop her by the door and hope she doesn't get blasted in the ensuing carnage? Did they have any other option? She definitely couldn't fight. She was, by all intents and purposes, just a drastically injured human, right?
Gah, there were too many unknowns! Phineas never handled that well.
"I suppose we will just have to figure that out when the situation arises," Baljeetolus answered, depositing his arrow back in his quiver. "But every second we spend deliberating is another second that spell gets closer to completely breaking down Isabel's blood. We are on a schedule, gentlemen! We do not have the luxury to stand here and sort it all out."
This… from Baljeetolus. Baljeetolus, who liked to have everything figured out. But Phineas knew he was right, and clearly so did Ferb, who gestured all of them forward as he led them back to the door. Phineas watched as Ferb took one last look at the room and the crimson stones on the floor. His brother's expression darkened into something Phineas had never seen before, and Phineas knew something with absolute certainty: Malifishmirtz was in so much trouble. Then Ferb turned around and marched on, leaving Phineas to follow his quiet strength.
It turned out following the blood back was way more difficult than it had been following it to Isabel. Of course, they didn't have a goddess on their side this time, making the small puddles flitter and glow to mark their path. They had to rely entirely on their own sight, and it wasn't like this place had the best lighting.
Phineas proved to have the most aptitude for it—in part because his eyes were good and in part because he'd had the misfortune a couple times for his foot to slide on a wet part of the ground. But hey, he wouldn't complain; success was success, after all.
They knew they were close when the snakes started diving in. They came in pairs, almost like a guard patrol, hissing as soon as they saw the group. Bufavalous hung back, doing his best to keep Isabel out of danger, which was no problem because Ferb had it covered. The swordsman cut right through the first snake's fire blast, dissolving it on the spot, before doing the same to both creatures. Snakes came with greater frequency, but Ferb took care of them, too.
Steam hissed from Excaliferb's glowing blade. Maybe from dissipating the fire. Maybe from tearing so much magic apart. Either way, he could feel it practically vibrating with power, more than he'd ever noticed before.
They finally came upon a giant, ornate door unlike any they'd seen before. Ferb slayed two more snakes, Phineas taking care of two on his own, before they reached for the door. But just as Ferb's fingers brushed the wooden carving, his mind went completely blank.
Right now, right this very second, Ferb saw their future.
Bufavalous was the first to die. The brute had always been a protector, no matter how distant he tried to be. He took a blast meant for Phineas. Smoke curling from his damaged form, he fell. Phineas was too stunned to move, too stunned to leave Bufavalous' body.
Baljeetolus' scream filled the hall, and he shot his last arrow to distract the sorcerer. The elf was smart enough to know what that would mean for him, but Ferb could see it in Baljeetolus' eyes: a mania unlike any other, a total disregard for his own life after his longest and closest friend lost his. He dodged a beam, but then Malifishmirtz collapsed a wall on him and he too was lost to the dust.
Phineas' sobs caught the sorcerer's attention again too soon, and Ferb dove in front of him, coming up on one knee and lifting Excaliferb to slice through another blast—but with so few targets now, Malifishmirtz had no problem diversifying his magic. The ground became liquid under Phineas' feet, and his little brother barely made a sound before he sunk right from Ferb's sight. Ferb dropped to the floor, clawing at it, calling his brother's name, but the stones were solid again. Phineas was gone.
"Yield," came Malifishmirtz's voice, and Ferb shot around ready to fight, ready to tear him apart, but that was when Ferb realized it was all over. Because Malifishmirtz had Isabel. A line of pure dark magic coiled around her limp body, holding her up beside the sorcerer, and Ferb knew at any second her restraints could tighten, could squeeze out what little life his fairy fought so desperately to cling to.
Excaliferb fell from his hand and clattered on the cold stones below.
From there, everything faded to black. That was their future. No, that couldn't be their future! It couldn't. But it was…
Ferb had do think of something. He had to do something! His brother's scream still echoed through his mind.
His vision was over, but he had yet to return to his body. Ferb's consciousness had been hijacked into that aura void.
Ferbalot… you must think before you act. All this can change, but you must feel it, son. You will know what to do.
It was his mum's voice, and it startled Ferb so badly he almost jarred himself back to consciousness right then and there. Still, he held on, and he was taken aback by how silent the void was.
No strings appeared. No colors lit the space. There was no aura for him to reach out to, no other auracles lingering in the back spaces of the world. He may have heard his mother's voice, but she wasn't here, either. She was gone.
One of his nymph hunches had never been this strong before, but there were no auras for him to read into. He wasn't harmonizing with Jenny's or Perrible's or Bufavalous' or Southern's or his mother's or Isabel's, like he had before. For the first time, Ferb was really, truly, completely alone. He was floating in a sea of nothingness.
And that vision… dear lord, he had to change it! He couldn't let that come to pass, but he knew that was where they were heading, at their current trajectory.
What was it the Lady of the Lake told his mother? That nymphs may see the future, but not actively shape or change it. That was always the human's job: to quest and build the future. Nymphs saw and humans acted. Well, Ferb would just have to do both. He would use his abilities and choose a different path. He would render that future he saw null and void.
That must be the reason he was here, in this place. His mother said that he must feel it. There must be something about their path that they didn't know. That he needed to see. His blood was boiling with that conviction: that there was information he needed, and that it would make all the difference between living out the horrible future he saw and forging a new one.
But how could he know what they should do without latching onto someone's aura? That was how auracles worked, right? They harmonized with an aura and had visions about that person. What did Ferb do now, when no colors appeared to him and there was no one to guide him like before?
Excaliferb felt hot in his hand, reminding him that he was real. He was still here, even if no one else was. And though he only heard his mother's voice for the briefest second, he would take her advice. He had to feel it.
The more Ferb breathed, the more he was aware that he was really, truly alone. But maybe that was the point. Maybe this was about him.
Ferb closed his eyes. He imagined his mother spent a lot of time in this void. Her sight had been impossibly keen, and her blood ran in his veins. He inhaled, exhaled. He embraced his ability, his birthright, the part of him very deep down that could do the impossible, just like his mum.
What Ferb saw was the spell. In the cauldron, the potion was shadowy red, so dark it was nearly black. He could feel the power coming from it, the familiar hum of fairy magic. It was corrupted now, he could feel it. There was no separating what used to be Isabel from the evil magic that had torn her apart.
In other words, there was no stopping the spell. It was already complete, Isabel's blood broken down, her magic at the sorcerer's beck and call.
But what he could feel was the connection between the potion and Malifishmirtz's staff. He saw it clenched in the sorcerer's fingers, the bulb at the top swirling the same sickening red. It was a vessel, a container for the magic that Malifishmirtz wielded. And the potion was still a conduit, a fountain from which Malifishmirtz drew power.
All magic had to come from somewhere. It was pure energy, and could never be created or destroyed. Only contained, transferred. That was the heart of the Malifishmirtz family magic: drawing upon the magic of others. They had to break the cycle, Ferb realized.
As Malifishmirtz expended magic, he needed to replenish his supply. Ferb had always known that, ever since he was a kid and Isabel told him Malifishmirtz was targeting sprites for their power.
What Ferb had not realized, however, was how it worked. He'd thought all of Malifishmirtz's magic was contained in his staff—and it was true that some of it did. But only some. Malifishmirtz always had his cauldrons bubbling alongside him, even in that decrepit hovel he hid in before he regained so much power. In every vision Ferb had seen of the sorcerer, he was always stooped over his cauldrons. He always had three.
Ferb realized the staff could only contain so much, and that Malifishmirtz always drew from his reserve supply: the spell that stole the magic in the first place. The evil, destructive brew that he always fueled with magic from the Lady's creatures that he vanquished.
That horrible future that he saw… well, Ferb saw now that that was the future if they failed to allay the sorcerer's endless power. As Malifishmirtz was, in the wake of that fairy blood, he was too strong. The fiend would ultimately win, taking them down one by one.
But if they could stop Malifishmirtz from replenishing his magic as he used it? If they could cut him off from the source… Well, then Ferb had to believe they had a chance. If they could sever Malifishmirtz's connection to the spell, they could wear him down and win.
Ferb could change the future. He would change it. He saw that now.
"Ferb!"
Ferb woke up in his brother's arms.
"Phineas?" he breathed. He blinked slowly, until Phineas' worried face came into focus. Beyond that was the ceiling. He must have collapsed! He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but that didn't matter. If it would save their lives—if it would prevent what he'd seen—Ferb would do anything.
"Oh man," Phineas sighed, "oh man, oh man. You just… fell. Ferb, we had no clue what happened. Are you okay?"
Ferb's head swam. He was surprisingly dizzy; but then again, he'd never had such a strong vision of the future before. He was mentally taxed from the effort, and that wasn't the best state in which to fight Malifishmirtz; but knowing the path they needed to take was a fair trade-off.
"The cauldron," he groaned as Phineas helped him sit up.
"What?" Phineas said at the same time Bufavalous grumbled, "Hit his head when he fell, I'm telling you."
Ferb rubbed the side of his head. Bufavalous was right; he did hit his head. He must have really scared them, his brother especially.
"You're not—freaking out again, right?" Phineas asked hesitantly. "Like—before. Back there? You know…"
Like his panic attack. That was what Phineas was asking. He was afraid Ferb had one of those crushing, consuming panic attacks like the one that had gripped his entire soul just a short time ago, when they'd cauterized Isabel's wound.
Gah, Ferb did not need to think about that. He still had no clue what the hell that had been, and he'd never felt less in control of his own being as he did when it happened. He quickly shook his head, assuring his brother that whatever that had been back there, this, now, wasn't it.
"The cauldron," he repeated. "That's what we need. That's the key."
At their confused expressions, Ferb started to explain: the cauldron was the spell. The cauldron stored the magic. The staff was merely a conductor for its incredible, magical alchemic power.
Ferb didn't tell them his vision of their future. Watching them die, one by one. Their total defeat. Ferb let out a breath and ran his hand over his eyes. No, they didn't need to hear that. It would haunt him forever, and he couldn't burden them with that. It was something he would take with him in silence for the rest of his potentially short life.
"Well that's easy!" Bufavalous laughed, sounding like he thought everything Ferb had just explained was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard. "The cauldron's it, huh? Well fine! We storm in, and the first person to dump the cauldron over gets the prize!"
"And yet I doubt it is that easy," Baljeetolus said dryly, meeting Ferb's eyes. "Something like that, 'dumping the cauldron over,' as the troglodyte suggested… that will not be enough, I am assuming."
Ferb shook his head, but it was Phineas who articulated why.
"No, I'm sure it won't be that easy, either. This has some pretty intense magic involved. Blood magic deals with connections, right? That's not something easily severed. Even if we dump the concoction on the floor, he'd still have a connection to it and pull from it with that staff of his."
"Agreed," Baljeetolus stated. "We would actually need to actively disrupt the connection: alter its very essence of the solution and render it unstable at the compositional level."
"I have no idea what either of you just said," Bufavalous droned, and Baljeetolus scoffed.
"We need to upset the spell on a chemical level in order to break the magic connection that allows Malifishmirtz to conduct its power."
It didn't look like Baljeetolus' added explanation helped anything at first; but then Bufavalous was nodding his head.
"So… change it, not smash it?" he summarized, and Baljeetolus smirked.
"There you go."
Thankfully Bufavalous didn't register the condescension in his friend's voice—that, or he was so used to it that he didn't care anymore.
"And how are we supposed to do that?" the brute asked.
"Is it not obvious?" Baljeetolus chuckled. "We have our very own secret weapon."
"Secret weapon?" It took a moment for Bufavalous to catch on. Then Ferb saw realization flicker across his face. They were all on the same page now.
One by one, their gazes flicked to Phineas, who stared back at them, clearly taken aback by the sudden intensity of their attention. Then his eyes went wide.
"Oh. Oh, so you mean… You mean you need me to…"
"Unless you know another master alchemist," Baljeetolus interjected when Phineas seemed no longer capable of speech.
For the briefest, craziest second, Phineas looked as if the idea terrified him. But then that second ended. He swallowed hard and composed his features. His usual confidence swooped right back in, and he held his head high.
"Right. Of course," he nodded. " You guys will have to take care of Malifishmirtz, keep him busy. Leave the spell to me."
"Nah, it's not like Mal-Fish Breath's just going to let you start having hocus pocus fun time with his all-powerful potion," Bufavalous interjected. "Green and I will run offense, keep as much attention on us as possible. Green's the biggest threat with that sword of his, and we need to keep the focus there. But chances are he's going to have help in there. Snakes, at the least."
"I am uncertain how much assistance I will bring," Baljeetolus said, staring down at the bow in his hand. "I am down to my final arrow."
"Then you'll protect me," Phineas decided. He flipped his sword in his hand, offering its handle to the elf. Baljeetolus stared at it like he couldn't comprehend what Phineas was suggesting, so the alchemist pushed the weapon into his hands.
"I won't need it anyway," Phineas rationalized. "I'm going to have my hands full if I have to figure out some blood magic potion nonsense. I'm going to need someone to defend me if baddies start heading our way."
Baljeetolus looked like he wanted to protest, but he ultimately pursed his lips. After a second, he nodded his head. The sword was clearly awkward and uncomfortable in his hands, but he nodded again in agreement; and Ferb felt infinitely better knowing someone had his brother's back. Phineas had just been given a colossal job, one that carried their success or failure in the space of a single cauldron.
Time to see if all of his seizing the day would add up enough to save the whole kingdom.
"What about her?" Bufavalous asked for the second time, adjusting his hold on Isabel to emphasize his point. She still hung limply across his shoulders.
"Well we can't leave her out here," Phineas stated, which was punctuated by Ferb's stern, "Absolutely not."
"There is no good answer here," Baljeetolus sighed. "We will just have to lay her by the door, as far from the potential battle as possible, and hope for the best."
There it was: the dreaded b-word. Battle. That was what this finally came down to, the moment they stepped through that door. Looking around at each other, they all realized there was nothing more that they could say. Nothing that didn't sound like a goodbye.
"Ferb…" Phineas said hesitantly, reaching out to his older brother, but Ferb shook his head. He wouldn't be making any goodbyes today. He wouldn't be doing anything that even remotely resembled a goodbye, especially after his vision. He wouldn't say goodbye because he would be changing that future. He'd be forging his own, starting right now.
"Right," Phineas breathed and he let his hand drop. He glanced at the other two. They were all as ready as they would ever be, so he sucked in a whole lungful of air. When he let it out, it was with a strong, "Carpe diem, Fellowship of the Broken Sword. Let's go kick some butt."
Ferb nodded, and with nothing more to say, he turned back around and reached out for the large, ornate door. This time when his fingers met the wood, no visions stopped him. They had their path. He shoved at the doors, and then they opened, Ferb knew there was no turning back.
Malifishmirtz stood at the opposite end of a grand throne room. He turned around when he heard all of them enter, but Ferb was hardly paying attention; his eyes were instantly scoping the space, searching for—there.
Malifishmirtz's alchemy workshop stretched along the left wall: tables covered with notes and drawings, shelves upon shelves of jars, plants, mixing tools. And cauldrons. Three of them. One noticeably larger from the rest.
"So you actually had the guts to follow me to my own tower," Malifishmirtz called into the air between them; but they'd heard enough of his talk last time. Ferb wouldn't go through this again. On an invisible cue, they all charged.
While the element of surprise wasn't much, they could at least say they had it. Ferb had been the quickest, and Malifishmirtz scrambled for a second before sending a magic blast at him. The sorcerer had clearly been expecting a chance to monologue a bit, but Ferb was done with talking. It was time for action.
Behind him, Phineas and Baljeetolus were making a beeline toward the alchemy supplies, the elf slicing their way through a swarm of snakes. Bufavalous deposited Isabel by the door just like they said and charged too, forcing Malifishmirtz immediately resort to making copies of himself.
Excellent! Ferb knew this stretched the sorcerer's magic thin. Not thin enough, of course; but it was a start. Most importantly, it would give Phineas an opening to reach their ultimate goal.
Phineas was trying not to panic as he sprinted. He had to dodge snakes and fire and hope to the Lady that he wasn't drawing too much attention to himself right now. He was completely defenseless, and there was only so much Baljeetolus could do. At the very least, it seemed Bufavalous had been right about one thing: the threat of Excaliferb was enough to keep Malifishmirtz primarily focused on stopping Ferb, who kept striking down copies left and right, steadily fighting closer to the sorcerer.
When Phineas finally skidded to a stop by the cauldrons, he should have been relieved. In fact, the exact opposite was true, and it was for a reason he never could have foreseen.
For starters, from the door he hadn't been able to see the chains on the wall, right in the middle of the alchemy ingredients. Why Malifishmirtz would need to chain prisoners up right here, Phineas didn't know, and he was sick to his stomach at just the thought of it.
But then Phineas saw the blood. It pooled on the floor just like it did through the hallway, and suddenly Phineas knew exactly what the chains had been used for. Malifishmirtz must have been standing right where Phineas was as he tormented Isabel. This was her blood.
His suspicion was confirmed when he noticed something green glint in the flickering firelight. He recognized it instantly, and unease tripped all the way down to his stomach. He bent to the base of the cauldron and retrieved the object: Isabel's dagger, dried blood all down its tip. This must have been the instrument to inflict her wound. God, what cruel irony. His fingers tightened around the handle. If it turned out this blade ended up killing her…
"Phineas?" Baljeetolus demanded, heaving Phineas' sword up to slice through a snake. "Focus."
Right. Phineas slid the dagger in his belt and turned his attention on the cauldron. He couldn't afford to get distracted; none of them could. Below, his challenge awaited: dark, bubbling liquid like oil, though it had a slightly reddish gleam. This was pure dark magic, alchemy twisted beyond the natural—but it was still alchemy, and that would have to be enough.
He turned and examined the shelves. He had a lot of ingredients to work with, that was good; but where the heck was he even supposed begin? He was venturing into completely uncharted water, here!
Water…
Water! That was it!
This was blood magic, right? And Phineas knew blood was mostly water with other trace elements. If he could somehow… upset the balance, break apart what surely composed most of the potion… Well, he would have to tip the scales. He didn't know much about this potion, but if he needed to upset the solution, he could at least start with what he knew.
Heat, lots of heat. That was step one. And if he could overload it, in a sense, mess up the proportions… Algae. He would need as much algae as he could find, overwhelm the spell with excessive amounts of oxygen.
He began shuffling through all the jars and shelves. If the Malifishmirtz family really were practiced alchemists, he had to believe they had it! So he searched and he searched until—yes! On the sixth shelf he found a dusty, cobweb-covered jar with exactly what he was looking for. He yanked the lid off and dumped the algae in.
Usually he could overwhelm water composition if he introduced enough oxygen into the mix, and the heat would help. This was magic, though. It was unlike any alchemy he performed before. What other tricks did he know? Increasing pressure? He frantically looked around. Yes, there was a lid, but how to increase its pressure? It would need to be an instant reaction to have the desired effect.
With water, pure sodium would be best, but that would be way tougher to find than algae; and something told Phineas he was quickly running out of time.
"Phineas!" Baljeetolus yelped, swinging Phineas' blade through a dive-bombing snake. The movement was heavy and awkward, and he missed at first, but the elf managed to get the beast before it got him; but that didn't change the fact that one of those sorcerer copies was closing in.
"I know!" Phineas shouted back. He was working as fast as he could, but he didn't know what ingredients Malifishmirtz did and didn't have. He was rifling through all the jars, bundles, and containers, looking for salt. The purest form of sodium would just have to take a back seat to—salt! It would have to do, because Phineas could think of no other way to increase the pressure as quickly as he needed.
He would have to be careful; he had no clue at what point the fission would finally occur. The spell didn't collapse under heat or increased oxygen. Maybe pressure would be the tipping point, but with the magical elements of this potion, he simply didn't know. At any moment, this whole thing could explode in his face—literally. But considering his friends' lives hung in the balance, he had no choice.
"Stay back!" he yelled to Baljeetolus. Then he dumped the entire container of salt into the cauldron and slammed the lid down as quickly as he could. It would take a few seconds for the pressure to build, and if it were a normal potion, this would be the point when it went up in smoke, no doubt about it. Phineas dove to the ground, covering his head…
Waiting…
And honestly, if it were to explode, it probably should have done it by now. Maybe the dark magic elements of the potion were too strong. If not even heat, pressure, and bombarding the mix with oxygen and sodium could overwhelm the compounds, he wasn't sure if anything could.
Come on, Flynn! The others were counting on him! Every second he spent now, his brother was dodging death. Baljeetolus was another second closer to slipping up and not being fast enough to catch a snake. Bufavalous found himself fighting off more of those Malifishmirtz copies.
Fudge! Phineas bit his lip, just about ready to tear his hair out! He had to think about this. He had to think! Alchemy was always his specialty. There had to be more he could do.
Unless… unless the dark magic morphed the compounds enough that his standard methods weren't enough. He needed a monumental change. A catalyst. A spark.
A spark!
By the Lady, that was it! Phineas had it!
"Ferb, I need a catalyst!" he called across the room, and Ferb cursed the world in his head.
Seriously his little brother did not need to gather more attention to himself, especially when Ferb was in no position to help! The goddamn tiles kept magically shifting and melting at his feet, forcing him to always be on the move. For every Malifishmirtz copy he cut through, the sorcerer managed to spawn one more. Even with Bufavalous constantly fighting, they weren't making any headway.
Not to mention those magical blasts! Malifishmirtz wasn't holding back, and he was doing his best to kill Ferb before he could use Excaliferb against him. While Ferb defended against the blasts just like before, cleaving right through them with his sword, they were so strong now that they pushed him back. It became a test of wills: one strength against another, challenging who would break or crumble first.
And unfortunately, Ferb was pretty damn sure he would run out of stamina before the recently super-charged sorcerer would. His arms already burned with the effort of cutting through the attacks. While Excaliferb glowed with power in his hands, the vorpal blade's usefulness would only last as long as its wielder's.
Now to hear Phineas was missing some kind of catalyst? Ferb didn't exactly have the time or ability to fetch bizarre ingredients for his brother's harebrained ideas like he did back home.
"Now is not a good time," he yelled back, springing back to avoid one copy—only to back straight into another. The second would have brained him if not for the fact that Bufavalous sliced right through him from behind. Ferb stumbled, but the brute caught him. After a small nod, he charged another fiend.
By the Lady, what would Ferb ever do without his friends?
"A spark! I need a spark, Ferb. A strong one!"
Well, that was a dilemma.
"Stones?" he called back, right as the ground swallowed his right foot. Shit! It was like sinking in quick sand! He plunged Excaliferb into the magic-infected rock and steam rose from it. His blade glowed even brighter, the floor crumbling into rubble. He wrenched himself free, but the rock continued to dissolve in Excaliferb's wake, much like how the blade demolished the magic blasts.
Interesting…
"Nope! None that I can find!" Phineas responded; and to make matters worse, three more copies were now charging in the alchemist's direction. He was calling too much attention to himself! More than Ferb thought Baljeetolus could handle, even if the elf had managed to just finish slicing a different copy through its middle.
No stones, huh? Back home they usually had Perrible heat their potions to the appropriate temperatures; but some potions in particular required a different catalyst. Some required a degree of charge. They had special stones that would create a spark when struck against each other. Without those stones, Ferb had no idea what to tell Phineas about creating a spark. It wasn't like lightning would just fall from the sky and bless them with electrical power!
Well, not without Isabel. Instantly, Ferb's heart hurt. His fairy would be able to solve this problem. Hell, she'd blasted an army of gargoyles and Malifishmirtz himself right in the face with lightning! If Phineas needed a spark, Isabel would have been able to give him one without breaking stride or a sweat. They needed her magic! Ferb needed her.
Ferb figured his brother was doing all he could to upset the balance of the potion, but maybe Ferb was onto something: maybe this problem couldn't be solved with alchemy alone. Alchemy was important. Alchemy was what would tip the scales. But often alchemic reactions were hindered without the introduction of a catalyst; and for this particular problem, Ferb realized any normal catalyst probably wouldn't be good enough. Maybe this catalyst had to be magic.
"Green!" Bufavalous screamed, alerting Ferb to the gargoyle that began tearing its way out of the wall, right next to the brute. They raced to trade opponents, Bufavalous charging the copies on Ferb's tail while Ferb dove forward and sliced the gargoyle's head clean off.
Excaliferb was almost burning-hot in his hands, and Ferb recognized it as power. Sheer power. And it was building.
God, the last thing Ferb needed right now was something else he didn't understand. He didn't need to be worrying about Malifishmirtz and his brother and the potion and a catalyst and Isabel and Excaliferb as he raised it against their foes. That was one thing he needed to depend on! He couldn't allow himself to falter.
And apparently because he wasn't already mentally stretched enough at the moment, something the Lady of the Puddle once said replayed through Ferb's head.
In his mind, he was back in that cave from their first quest. The entrance had collapsed, and his friends were strewn about him, dazed and worn. He'd heard Vanessa's voice beckoning him toward the sword he held now. Behold: Excaliferb! The instrument that will be Malifishmirtz's end. Her voice had spoken in his mind, had said that to him.
For the longest time, Ferb thought that meant exactly how it sounded: that he would use Excaliferb to end Malifishmirtz's life. His literal end, as most swords would bring. And maybe it still could, but now Ferb's heart pounded with a new possibility.
He only had a second. The briefest, most dangerous second.
But in that second, all the puzzle pieces started coming together.
It started with his visions, how intense they had become, growing in strength, even though he hadn't really had them before their journey. You and your sword are, like, totally harmonizing, Jenny had told him the very first time he met her. Then, later: Your exposure to Excaliferb. A magic sword to stir up and remind you of the magic inside of you. As if merely wielding the vorpal blade had a true, corporeal effect on him.
Magic always needed a vessel.
You'll also be afraid that your sword will break again, but if it does, just remember that you shouldn't be afraid, she had told him. He shouldn't be afraid. Right. Excaliferb was to be the instrument of Malifishmirtz's demise, after all, but…
Magic always needed a vessel.
Ferb harmonizing with his sword. Ferb's abilities growing stronger the longer he'd traveled, the more enemies he'd killed, the more magic he'd allowed his blade to devour.
Magic always needs a vessel.
Excaliferb was the opposite of Malifishmirtz's staff, a vessel all the same, but made to fight magic rather than wield it.
A container.
And finally, the last piece clicked into place: something the Lady of the Lake had told him when he spoke with her on the banks of Lake Avalos, the very day their quest began. She said it so distinctly, so knowingly. It was a phrase he'd heard more than once echoing through his visions and dreams. He heard it now, yet again, with stunning clarity.
The sword will not break again, not if you don't want it to.
Not if you don't want it to.
Ferb rolled to avoid a blast, but swung his sword up to slice right through the attack. Just like the fire and every magic beam before it, Excaliferb dissolved it on the spot, glowing in its wake. Only that wasn't accurate, Ferb now realized. It didn't dissolve the magic of the beams, the enchanted fire, or even the gargoyle's stone. Every bit of magic Excaliferb faced hadn't been destroyed.
It had been consumed.
His mum had stated it perfectly: a vessel for magic in order to fightmagic. Every enemy he fought, every magical beast he'd slain, he'd only grown in power. His visions became sharper, controlled, more frequent. He wielded more magic and was able to tap into a greater font of magic inside of him, a direct parallel as their journey continued. A harmony. Exactly as Jenny had said, a magic blade to unlock the magic lying dormant inside of him.
Only now, his vorpal blade had devoured more than pure dark magic. Thanks to this fight, it had more than its fair share of fairy magic, too.
And it was only through their journey that Ferb had come to appreciate the power of prophecies—ever since he learned all his mother saw, and all the steps she took to put this particular version of the future into motion. So now Ferb appreciated something that the Lady of the Lake had said in a way he never could have before: that a fairy's magic was necessary to defeat Malifishmirtz. Yes.
Ferb knew what he needed to do.
"Phineas!" he screamed as he dodged a Malifishmirtz copy. "I need cover. Now!"
He wasn't sure he could pull this off with all they were facing, between those copies, the snakes, and Malifishmirtz's incessant blasts. Let alone the stones that kept shifting and warping at their feet.
"Cover?" Phineas called back. The alchemist had been busying himself looking for anything that might allow him to figure out his catalyst; how the heck was he supposed to provide cover?
"Come on, Phineas. You're a pro at this!" his brother yelled. "We've made, what? Twelve flavors?"
Phineas blinked. Twelve flavors? Why yes… yes they did. Of course. He and his brother had become quite the masters of making those kinds of potions through the years. He could whip it up in mere minutes, if the sorcerer had the right ingredients. And if not, well, he'd just have to improvise.
He didn't want to abandon working on the spell, but if Ferb said they needed cover, Phineas would listen. He would just have to trust his older brother. After scrambling through the sorcerer's ingredients, Phineas took the smallest of the cauldrons and went to work.
Meanwhile, Malifishmirtz cried out in frustration and thrust his staff forward. A huge ball of energy shot forward—way too large this time for Ferb to slice through. He barely sprinted out of the way as the ball of energy slammed into the ground, sending the whole room careening and shaking with dust. A monstrous cloud of debris filled the air as, starting at the center of the blast, the floor started falling away, splinters chasing Ferb's feet across the stone, and he realized he wasn't done running yet!
Ferb had to jump as the floor where he'd been standing rotted away into the magical sinkhole. He'd barely felt the stone soften quick enough for him to spring out of the way, and now he had to roll as a snake breathed fire at him. Bufavalous dove out of nowhere and smacked the snake away, when suddenly the ground started crumbling under him, too.
Bufavalous shoved Ferb out of the way before he fell.
A crater decorated the center of the throne room. A crater he'd just seen Bufavalous fall into. Ferb was stunned. The image of Phineas sinking through the floor flashed in his mind, only in real life, it was Bufavalous who fell. In his vision, the brute died taking a hit for Phineas, and this time… this time, it was for Ferb, and the swordsman couldn't breathe, couldn't move, couldn't do anything, because Bufavalous fell!
Baljeetolus screamed through the dust-filled air from the other side of the room, having seen exactly what Ferb did. Maybe half a dozen copies fell into the crater, too, but if it had come at the cost of Bufavalous… By the Lady, what did they do now?
"Aw shit!"
And Ferb could cry, because there was only one person who could curse that loudly. Ferb lunged forward, to the side of the chasm, to find Bufavalous hanging from a warped ledge.
"Fuck, Green, don't just sit there!" he hollered, which was enough to demolish Ferb's shock. He threw his arms over the edge, grasping the brute's wrist as tightly as he could.
Damn, Bufavalous was heavy; but Ferb couldn't let go! There was nothing but darkness below them, making Ferb wonder if it was truly a lower level that awaited underneath or total magical oblivion.
"Now do you see how pointless your fight is?" crooned a copy of Malifishmirtz that stood over him, and suddenly Ferb felt a boot on his back. Then pressure, pressure and pain. He cried out as the copy did his best to grind Ferb against the floor. His grip almost slipped.
The ledge collapsed, leaving all of Bufavalous' weight to hang from one arm. Ferb groaned from the strain. Bufavalous needed to drop his freaking ax and help pull himself up! Priorities! Ferb needed all the help he could get!
With the newfound burden, the copy tried to push Ferb over. It cackled above them, and Ferb glanced back just in time to see the fake sorcerer lift its staff. Wham! Ferb took the hit to his shoulder, and he recoiled, barely keeping his grasp. It was only the first abuse, and a second hit was quick to come. Ferb gritted his teeth, trying his best to keep his hold on Bufavalous, but he could barely breathe with the weight the sorcerer was now applying to his lungs.
The copy was forcing Ferb to either let Bufavalous fall into the void or fall in with him. He wished he could reach Excaliferb, but he'd dropped that when he'd dove to catch Bufavalous, and under the strain, he couldn't have done much anyway. He was stuck, pinned, wide-open prey as he kept his friend alive.
Ferb was trapped in a decision he could never make, and he saw no way out. But he couldn't let go. God, no… what could he do? He needed another option!
The copy slammed its boot into Ferb's rib this time, and he almost let go right then and there as he cried out in pain. He met Bufavalous' eyes, and for one second, things were completely still between them. The brute could read the situation just as well as Ferb could. He knew Ferb couldn't keep them both alive, not like this.
Then Bufavalous jerked in Ferb's grip. Was he trying to get himself killed? If he kept jerking, Ferb's hands would slip! What was he thinking? Unless…
"Byoof!" Ferb screamed. Ferb would not be letting him drop, and if Bufavalous really was trying to force Ferb to let him go, then he was going to murder Bufavalous if they survived this! Damn altruistic idiot! Ferb wasn't letting go. "Stop! Just—drop your axe. And stop being a bloody moron!"
Bufavalous did as Ferb said—at least, he stopped jerking around—but looked up at him desperately. Then his eyes widened with something that looked suspiciously like an idea.
"The copy," he groaned, "what side is he on?"
What side? It took a second for Ferb to process that—and then he took a nasty knock to his rib again. That answered the question.
"My left," Ferb coughed, trying to breathe.
What Ferb hadn't been prepared for was when Bufavalous suddenly choked up his grip on his axe. He rocked one way, then another—nearly making it impossible for Ferb to hold on—before launching his weapon up out of chasm. Ferb couldn't watch its trajectory, not without letting go, but he suddenly heard the sickening, squelching sound of a copy being impaled and turning to sludge.
The axe barely missed Ferb as it fell to the ground at his side, but the copy was no more. Ferb really tried not to think about what would have happened had Bufavalous'—blind—throw been just a little bit off. He released a breath he'd forgotten he'd been holding and stared down at the brute in sheer horror.
"Right!" Bufavalous barked. "Now stop staring at me like I'm already dead and pull me the hell up!"
Ferb's strength was shot, but now that he had two hands, Bufavalous found purchase on part of the debris. It helped enough that Ferb could start dragging the brute's body back onto solid ground.
For a moment, he could only stay there and let every part of him tremble as the dust and debris settled around them. He ached from multiple attacks and his arms felt ready to break. Bufavalous looked no better; he was pale as a ghost, and when he met Ferb's eyes, Ferb didn't think he'd ever seen him so stunned.
"Whatever happens," the brute panted, "I owe you one. A big one."
Ferb nodded as he recovered Excaliferb. After all, he had a plan to implement. He was gambling strengths, putting everything he had on the line. He'd never acted on such a huge if as he intended to momentarily; but there was no going back.
"Well, I'm cashing in, then," he declared. "Get ready to help Isabel."
"Ferb!"
Phineas' voice rang clearly through the air, and Ferb's eyes shot up. First they found his brother, who—oh god, he was fighting a copy! But somehow Phineas managed to stab it; Ferb had no idea how, but it looked as if he was holding a dagger. Was that Isabel's?
With the copy melting into muck, Phineas turned on his heel and tossed something to Baljeetolus. The object reflected the light of the fires as the elf caught it. The potion, Ferb realized. The distraction he would need.
"What?" Bufavalous wheezed. "Isabel? The hell you talking about?"
But Baljeetolus had already finished securing Phineas' creation to the tip of his final arrow, and Ferb knew the time for explanations had passed. The brute wouldn't understand yet, but he would soon enough. At least, Ferb hoped he would. If everything worked like he hoped. Which of course it could very well not.
But Ferb had to trust himself. He had to trust all the pieces that had been there all along, the truths he'd pieced together.
He had to do this.
Ferb plunged his sword through one of the copies that survived the cataclysm as Baljeetolus let his arrow fly.
Ferb watched the arrow's path as it raced through the air, a silver blur, and his hand tightened on Excaliferb. He would be giving up his greatest strength, but knew it had to be done. Just as his mum had sacrificed her own happiness to create the future as it needed to be, Ferb would make this sacrifice now.
The sword will not break again, not if you don't want it to.
The arrow was aimed perfectly for Malifishmirtz's head, and just as Ferb expected, the sorcerer batted the projectile away. That was perfectly fine; hitting him had never been the goal. The vial at the tip of the arrow shattered the second Malifishmirtz swatted it away and a massive, dense cloud of smoke exploded into the air. Instantly, the whole room filled with the smell of oranges as the smoke swallowed the space.
Just try to hit me now, Ferb thought proudly. Fruit-scented smoke screens had, after all, been a particular specialty of theirs. His genius brother bought him a few seconds, and that was all Ferb needed.
He lifted Excaliferb in front of him. Even with the smoke screen obscuring the whole room, he could still make out its beautiful gleam, just a few inches from his face. He realized, if he were correct, then Excaliferb probably wouldn't glow quite like this ever again.
The sword will not break again, the Lady had told him. Not if you don't want it to.
Well, time to see what would happen if he did want it. He clutched the handle in one hand, the blade in the other.
This was about more than blunt force; this was about Ferb's will. He was connected to Excaliferb, harmonizing with it, feeding off its magic in ways he hadn't understood. Now the blade would bend to his command.
No. It would break at his command.
Ferb adjusted his fingers, not even caring as the blade bit into his skin. He harnessed all of his will, the ability that coursed within him, the power of prophecy that he would wield just like any sword.
"Phineas," he called, "be ready!"
Ferb breathed in, out, tightened his grip.
Then Ferb broke Excaliferb over his knee.
The vorpal blade snapped under his will, fracturing in the exact same way it had eight years ago, when he raised it for the very first time; and he was set adrift in a maelstrom of raw power.
All of that magic: every enemy he'd defeated, blast he'd deflected, attack he'd sliced through. All the magic from every second they'd suffered up to this point. All the magic he'd been forced to face that had once been under the command of the fairy he loved. Everything Excaliferb had consumed at every battle they'd met.
Excaliferb was broken, two pieces in Ferb's hands.
And all of that magic was released.
Dun dun duuuuun!
Review, please! I would positively love to hear all of your reactions to this! Excaliferb is broken-broken willingly, at Ferb's hands! This shizzit's getting real!
You all are the best! (And I'd say count on six chapters left, including the epilogues).
Love,
Lilly-Belle
