Hello everyone! Two weeks, that's improvement, huh? You all can thank foodluver for encouraging me to crank this chapter out!

I want to take a brief self-celebratory moment to say this story is officially over 1000 pages, single-spaced! HOLY COW! I never thought, going into this, that it would become such a huge project. So thanks so much for being here and reading it! I really appreciate it!

As always, I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Phineas and Ferb.


CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO:

Heroes


Ferb never felt much like a hero.

That was most certainly true after their first quest. To be called on an adventure like that? To have their future thunder in in the wake of an unearthly rainstorm, it had been all he and Phineas had dreamed about! The Lady of the Puddle herself appeared in their backyard and tasked them with finding a mythical sword that would finally bring an end to the tyranny of the Malifishmirtz line.

In the beginning of their first quest, they had never questioned why they had been chosen; why, in the entire kingdom, the great water deity picked a couple of scrawny but curious kids to carry that weight. Being who they were, Phineas and Ferb took it in stride. They met Isabel, the first sprite they'd ever come in contact with, and she knew the way.

They faced a lot in their travels, dodging spies and facing trolls and trekking through a poisonous swamp. They met two enigmatic nomads and became a team, each of them bringing different strengths to the table. Bufavalous and Baljeetolus' fighting ability had kept them alive as meatlings attacked them at every turn. They ran, tricked their opponents, jumped off a freaking cliff, stormed into the malicious terrain of Shadow Quarry, and survived a cave-in; all in search for the mythical sword Vanessa had promised.

Ferb thought he could be a hero the moment he pulled Excaliferb from the stone. He could tell the blade was everything Vanessa promised him it would be: the instrument of Malifishmirtz's demise. It thrummed with a power that only years later he finally understood to be magic.

But even if he hadn't known much about the magic, Ferb could tell from the beginning that Excaliferb was truly something special. It was confirmed immediately: when all those monsters retreated at the sight of its bronze glow. Excaliferb alone had been enough to convince the monsters that fighting with him was better than fighting against him; and so, with an army of demons at their side, they charged Malifishmirtz head-on, at the peak of his power, before he lost it all and had to rebuild.

Ferb had raised his new-found sword against their enemy. It felt hot, almost alive, in his hand. And then he felt the shift, the recoil, the snap. It fell apart, and as simply as that, Ferb was no longer the hero of his own story.

He couldn't seem to escape reliving that moment in the following months. Unnerving dreams plagued him on unfortunate nights. Sometimes at the dreaded breaking point, Ferb would sink into the ground and begin to suffocate on dirt, Excaliferb's useless hilt still in hand. Sometimes he would be so hopeless that his dream-self didn't even bother lifting the blade; it broke anyway. And there were some dreams that he broke the sword over his knee himself, just to get it over with.

At the time, Ferb hadn't known he had the potential for seeing the future.

In his worst dreams, Malifishmirtz killed all his friends while Ferb had to watch. It was on those nights that Ferb climbed out of his own bed and snuck over to his brother's. It was simple back then; they were both small enough to easily fit on the single mattress, and they still shared a room at that point. Phineas knew there were nights that Ferb tossed and turned, but Ferb never brought it up and Phineas didn't pry, not even on the mornings he woke up to find Ferb drooling on his arm.

When Candavere moved out a few months after their quest, already engaged to Jeremiad, their parents thought it would be a great opportunity for the boys. Ferb could take her old room and they would both have more space for all the projects they were so engrossed with.

Their fireball of a mother set to work changing the space, making it feel welcoming for Ferb—and he appreciated it. Kind of. At the time, he wanted to stick close to his brother, but he didn't want to admit it was for such a stupid reason.

Ferb knew if anyone were the hero of his tale, it would be either Phineas or Perrible. It was a potion used on their pet, after all, that led to their victory. Ferb had been an unnecessary errand boy, and he tried to be okay with that because the fact that they won, unharmed, was the most important thing of all.

He tried to focus on that: the positive. It was easy to stay positive at their house. Always being around vibrant, busy Phineas made it so he could try not to think about the two broken pieces of metal he kept in the very back his closet.

When he got his own room, it had been so much easier for Ferb to brood. That was what he had been doing when Isabel dropped on him out of nowhere; he'd been glaring at the pieces of the broken blade propped up in the back of his clothing trunk, like he could force it to stop haunting him if his deep, disapproving silence was penetrating enough. Then Isabel had sneezed behind him, and his whole life changed.

She never missed a single nightmare he had. She was always up first, flying and landing on his nose, forcing him awake and tearing him away from that rocky crest on Mount Doof. She would cross her arms and tap her foot—which was always really distracting when she was standing on him—until he caved and confessed what he'd seen.

It was always about Excaliferb. It always resulted in a broken sword clutched in his hands. No, Ferb hadn't been the strong, sword-wielding hero that he thought he would be.

And now here he was, with broken pieces of Excaliferb once again.

Some could say he was quite literally living his worst nightmare. He was in the midst of the final fight, facing Malifishmirtz after the sorcerer had committed the unforgivable evil of stealing Isabel's magic. It was the height of the battle, the moment everything hinged upon, the time for Ferb to step up and be a hero; and Ferb had done the very thing that he'd seen in a handful of his dreams as a child and broken the sword himself.

It was only now that Ferb understood that being the champion, the wielder of Excaliferb, didn't mean he had to lead and protect the others like some well-seasoned, infallible warrior. It didn't mean he had to valiantly fight to the death in an epic duel, sword on staff.

He knew now that sometimes the most heroic people were not the ones that knew how to wield power, but the ones who knew how to relinquish it. And if that were true, maybe Ferb knew more about being a hero than his young self had thought.

Excaliferb was magic. That had been a known fact for a long time. He'd also been told, time and again, that Excaliferb was a vessel. Excaliferb was more than a sword that could cut through magic; it, like Malifishmirtz's staff, could contain magic. When it glowed in the wake of defeating enemies, it was as the sword consumed the very magic it was vanquishing.

At first Ferb didn't realize the significance of that fact. It didn't occur to him until this fight: that Excaliferb was reacting differently to Malifishmirtz's power now. It was glowing hotter, humming with more power. Before, they were combating Malifishmirtz's power that he'd stolen from the sprites, but now Excaliferb was responding to consuming fairy magic. Tainted, twisted magic; but fairy magic nonetheless.

That realization, more than anything else, was the key to Ferb's decision, because of one simple fact: magic always needed a vessel.

Ferb had been told that in more than one vision, and since he'd been told, the line kept cropping back up, ricocheting in his mind, leaving ripples like a stone dropped in the center of a pond: magic always needs a vessel.

Now Ferb stood in a torrent of magic, mist and wind and light and pure, raw energy blasting out of one broken vessel and into the air. It knocked him back, a hurricane of power like the storm Isabel had unleashed so many nights ago, against the gargoyles. It buffeted the walls, knocked against his friends, sent the smoke currently in the room swirling with the waves of magic—all in one direction in particular.

Magic always needed a vessel, yes. Ferb just unleashed an unprecedented amount; and there was only one empty vessel in the room. One empty vessel, stripped of her magic, broken by her emptiness, but also brimming with potential.

All the magic Ferb released shot toward Isabel's unmoving body like an arrow, and the moment of collision was met with a blinding blast of light so strong it was staggering.

"What the hell?" Bufavalous screamed, but Ferb had already dropped Excaliferb's hilt and pulled the brute on, taking off in the direction of the magic.

Bufavalous coughed as they ran. No doubt his eyes were burning; Baljeetolus' too. The smokescreens Phineas and he developed were debilitating, but the two brothers had had ample practice dealing with the effects. Despite the smoke, he ran with Bufavalous in tow.

He couldn't see where Malifishmirtz was in the aftermath of Phineas' distraction, and if he couldn't see Malifishmirtz, then Malifishmirtz couldn't see them.

Ferb knew it was only the sheer lung overload of having a smoke bomb blow up in your face that was their saving grace right now. If the shot hadn't been so perfect, the sorcerer probably would have magically dismissed the smoke already. Instead, Ferb knew—from unfortunate personal experience—that Malifishmirtz had to still be hacking and choking right now; especially since the smoke was always the most potent and damaging in the epicenter.

Through the battle and chaos and extra weight of the vial, Baljeetolus had aimed well.

That being said, this was still problematic. Ferb knew they needed the smokescreen for cover if he were going to have the chance to snap the only defense he had against Malifishmirtz over his knee. Otherwise, the sorcerer would have blown him up right on the spot. The smoke gave him the chance he needed to act; but it came at the cost of knowing where they were going, too.

"Give a guy a warning, would you?" the brute choked from behind him, but Ferb ignored him. He had warned Bufavalous to be prepared to help Isabel, after all. He wouldn't slow down.

Ferb didn't have much trouble running toward the door, considering the massive flurry of magic that flashed in that direction. Ferb was confident as he kept pressing forward, a tight grip on Bufavalous so he wouldn't lose him. It was getting their catalyst back to his brother, however, that would be the real problem.

That particular concern would have to wait, though; because that was when he heard her. Coughing. A pained moan. The sounds wove a ribbon around Ferb's ribcage and pulled him forward even quicker. He needed to find her.

The smoke pooled against the wall, billowing—save a small, strange eye in the storm. It was like a bubble, a break in the smoke, and in the center lied Isabel.

The smoke swirled around her, but it was unable to penetrate the magical barrier that kept it from her. Ferb wasn't sure if he could bust through either; but he wasted no time as he raced toward it at a full sprint. He dove right at the break, and passed right through into a pocket of clean air.

"Isabel!"

Her body was convulsing, shaking uncontrollably. Pain wrecked her features and she was gasping, like no matter how many breaths she took, she still couldn't get enough air.

Bufavalous followed Ferb's lead, getting out of the smoke and coughing to try and clear his lungs. "What's wrong with her?" he croaked, and Ferb had a sinking suspicion he knew.

Ferb had the feeling this was a reaction to the magic. He'd released some fairy magic, sure; but it definitely was not the pure light magic Isabel had used before. It was a mix of magic that Excaliferb absorbed. Ferb had been following a hunch when he broke Excaliferb—just like many other auracle hunches he'd had before—but he didn't know if the magic blade vanquished the darkness, purified the magic; or if Ferb had just sent a whole lot of evil directly into his fairy's body.

It never occurred to him that the magic might be too transformed, that it could actually cause harm. If he hurt her…

But then again, she was currently using magic by keeping the smoke off her, even if it appeared to be happening subconsciously. That meant she was already using it! The convulsions, the tears, the gasping for breath… maybe this was her acclimating to the magic? He didn't know. He had no idea! And he couldn't think!

"Isabel," he repeated, pulling her up into his arms, and he was surprised when her eyes focused on him.

"Ferb?" she sobbed, clutching her wrist to her chest. "Ferb, I hurt. Why—why—augh…"

She writhed again, and a shrill whine of pain slid past her lips. God, she might as well have stabbed him in the heart right then and there.

Ferb understood the first malady plaguing her. When his wound had been cauterized, he'd had the benefit of being unconscious longer and even then it had felt like he'd had molten lava under his skin. Now she was dealing with the line carved down her arm, the skin melted into place to keep her alive, and it had all only happened within the mark.

Not to mention whatever internal damage that potion that stole her magic might of done in the first place. Plus the potential damage that having Excaliferb's magic inside of her might be doing now.

Ferb was slowly withering, in this moment. He died a little more for every convulsion, every gritted cry she tried to keep in.

"Hey!" Bufavalous barked, slapping Ferb on the back. "Come on! Stick to the plan!"

The plan… right. That was right. Bufavalous was right; he couldn't let himself forget what still needed to be done, and they were racing against the clock, betting everything on how long it would take for Malifishmirtz to recover from taking a smoke bomb in the face. Every second was precious.

Ferb gestured between Isabel and Bufavalous, and Bufavalous frowned.

"You want me to carry her? What for? It ain't like she can fight, just look at her!"

Ferb shook his head; of course she couldn't fight!

"The catalyst," he answered. "Phineas needs a spark to destabilize the potion."

Bufavalous' eyes went wide. "You really think Girlie can handle that?"

It was a valid question. He looked down at his fairy. Isabel's eyes were squeezed shut. Her skin was covered in a thin layer of sweat and she was panting like she'd just been battling for countless hours.

But despite that… this was Isabel. Ferb believed in her with his whole heart, mind, and soul. He met Bufavalous' eyes again.

"Yes."

Bufavalous held his gaze for a second. Then he nodded and began to pull Isabel out of Ferb's arms. She cried out as she was transferred, cradling her wrist even closer to her, and Bufavalous cringed in regret. Neither of them wanted to cause her pain, but they needed her right now.

"Then we don't have time for this whole sappy reunion business," he snapped to mask the gentleness with which he held Isabel now. He turned a sharp frown on Ferb. "How the hell are we supposed to find the others?"

That was the real question, Ferb reckoned; and quite the pickle. Finding Isabel had been easy with a magic trail lighting the way, but navigating back his brother? He could definitely take a guess with the general direction based upon the location of the door, but right now they needed more than guesses.

"Phineas!" he called, hoping more than anything that Malifishmirtz was not recovered enough to use his voice to hone in on them. No magic blasts came out of nowhere, which meant the sorcerer must have still been struggling with the smoke as much as they had.

At least now Ferb and Bufavalous had the luxury of clean air; but he knew Phineas wouldn't be able to respond. The smoke would be clouding his lungs, making it impossible for him to call back in the way Ferb was able to right now.

Still, Ferb yelled, "Where are you?" He had faith in his brother. He was confident that, so long as Phineas knew what Ferb needed, he would come through. Phineas would find a way.

His eyes scanned the smoke, a thick gray haze, waiting for a sign. Waiting for any hint for navigation to make it back to the others.

"What if this spark thing or whatever doesn't work?" Bufavalous said, demanding Ferb's attention again. He looked back to find the brute's frantic face. "You just broke your sword! If this doesn't work…"

Ferb nodded. He understood the chance he was taking right now; but everything inside of him had been pulled toward his sword, had nudged him into the decision he'd made. Maybe it was his own mind putting it together and maybe his auracle blood had helped him along, but he'd been completely convinced that breaking Excaliferb was what he needed to do.

Bufavalous' question did drudge up another concern for Ferb, however. Ferb felt… off. Really off. Like he'd been wrapped up in a thick, warm blanket all along and only realized it once it had been ripped away. He was left with a strange sense of cold, at a lack of a subtle, powerful humming under his skin. A humming that he could only recognize had been there now, at its absence. He had no idea what it meant.

"Ferb," Isabel groaned, and his racing mind tripped over itself when her fingers suddenly brushed over his cheek. He stared down at her, at the pained smile she was managing to send up at him, and felt his insides skip.

He caught her hand with his own and brought it to his lips, drinking in everything he could about her right now, marveling in the fact she was alive.

This had to work. Looking at her… Ferb knew this had to work. Nothing in his horrible vision had come true yet, and now she was awake; and they'd never made it that far in his vision where they all died. Yes, this—holding her hand, being gifted that smile—was proof that their future had been changed. Now they just had to take it to the end.

"Whoa," Bufavalous cut in, and he shot to his feet with Isabel so fast that Ferb almost fell over. He stood too and turned on his heel. What he saw was… befuddling.

A dull, blue halo lit a single point of the smoky haze. In the center was a glow more intense than the surrounding light, and it flickered and moved but stayed mostly in the same place.

Phineas had once again come through.

"To the light!" Ferb commanded, pushing Bufavalous forward, and they charged.

Ferb didn't know how Bufavalous did it. The brute had been fighting non-stop since they'd arrived, and after holding that ledge, dangling, and pulling himself back up out of that chasm, Ferb honestly didn't know how Bufavalous had any strength left. But the despite that, here he was, carrying Isabel like a princess as they sprinted across a partially destroyed battlefield.

Ferb was in awe.

That only grew when a coughing figure loomed in the smoke. Ferb raised the severed blade of Excaliferb, the metal still biting into his hand, but then Baljeetolus finally came into focus. Beyond him was the blue light, behind which more shadows were starting to take shape.

The glowing light, it appeared, was a stark blue fire. How Phineas and Baljeetolus managed to create such a vibrant blue flame, strong enough for its light to break through the smoke, Ferb would have to figure out later. Instead, he and Bufavalous rushed forward toward the impending shadows.

"Ferb?" Phineas croaked, and Ferb nearly cried right then and there when they were finally close enough for his brother to come into view. They were at the cauldron, and when Phineas was suddenly swallowed by the pocket of clean air, he could only blink.

Poor Phineas. His eyes flashed from the blade—and only the blade—of Excaliferb to Isabel, who was suddenly and, as far as he knew, rather inexplicably conscious right now. His jaw dropped.

"What the heck just happened?" he practically shrieked, but Baljeetolus put a hand on his shoulder. The elf's eyes were bloodshot and swollen, immensely bothered by the atmosphere, even more than the others; but he pushed all of them a step closer to the cauldron where Phineas had been doing his work.

"It does not matter!" he insisted in a raw, raspy voice. "Do you not see, Phineas? Isabel is exactly what you need!"

Phineas froze on the spot, and Ferb could only describe the smile he turned on Isabel as devious. Those alchemic gears in his brain were running at full speed, and he grasped the lid of the potion.

"Isabel, we need a spark! Not as strong as lightning. Smaller! An electric pulse, just enough to startle the solution into an upset!"

Isabel squeezed her eyes shut as a pained hiss slid from her lips, and when she opened them again, Ferb could tell she was confused. She'd lost a lot of blood and had her insides raked across coals; he was worried. What if Isabel couldn't think straight enough to use what was bound to be the really mixed up magic inside of her?

"Isabel." He reclaimed her hand and held it up between them. Their gazes locked, and he felt every moment they'd ever shared flash between them. His fingers tightened on hers as he said, "Look at me. Look at all of us. We need you. We love you; and we know you love us too. You need to harness that feeling. You need to use it!"

Magic that most definitely wasn't hers shot through the air and the section of alchemy materials over the blue beacon fire exploded. They all staggered, buffeted with flying chips of glass as an expletive burst from Bufavalous' mouth. Malifishmirtz must have regained his wits enough to see the fire.

"Isabel!" Phineas screamed just as the smoke started churning like a tornado. It gained speed, pushing against them—dissipating in the wake of the sorcerer's magic.

Dissipating quickly.

Isabel looked like she was barely keeping her eyes open, she was so weak; but Ferb cupped her face and forced her to look at him.

"Breathe, love," he told her, before resting his forehead against hers. "You can do this."

Knowing she didn't have the strength, he took her hand and extended it toward the potion, holding it there. He could feel her trembling. Her skin was still covered with not-yet-dried blood, but he believed in her. He believed in all of them.

"Guys…" Phineas warned as the last of the smoke disappeared, but Ferb kept his hold on Isabel.

"You can do this," he repeated, and she nodded.

From across the room, Malifishmirtz's eyes fell on their group. Then they went wide. He raised his staff; but a splinter of lightning, small and potent, sparked from Isabel's fingertips and struck the potion. Shards of electricity danced across the surface, making it glow.

They waited on suspended breath.

And then the room exploded in white, all-consuming light.

There was still ringing in his ears. Ferb was on the floor, his cheek pressed against the cold stones. It took a few seconds of blinking for the white to leave his eyes, for things to come back into focus.

"Ferb?"

It was Phineas. And it was coming from above him… just barely above him. It was only then that Ferb realized his brother was actually draped over his back. With a groan, Ferb wiggled, forcing his brother off of him as they sat up.

Bufavalous and Baljeetolus slowly peeled themselves off the ground, too. From where Isabel lie, she was unmoving, but as soon as Ferb frantically grabbed her shoulders, she moaned in response. By the Lady, she was okay.

They'd all flown back from the potion, and there was too much at once for Ferb to try to put together.

The first thing he saw was the remnants of the blue fire, just a few feet in front of them. The once vibrant beacon had fizzled down into a soft, cerulean glow. Ferb could make out a vague, familiar shape amongst the debris: the charred and utterly destroyed remains of Baljeetolus' bow.

Wow. It made sense to Ferb; he knew they used the wood of Baljeetolus' arrows as fuel for the fires to cauterize wounds because it burned hotter and brighter than normal wood. Phineas must have combined it with something he found in Malifishmirtz' alchemy stuff to make it blue. But seeing the bow, smoke spiraling up from the cinders… it was just so surreal.

The second thing Ferb noticed was the cauldron—or, at least, what used to be the cauldron. Where it once stood was a molten puddle of black ooze, recognizable as a cauldron only by remnants of the three claw feet down at the bottom of the basin. It was like the cauldron melted from the top down.

Then Ferb noticed the blood gushing from Baljeetolus' leg. The elf gritted his teeth—before yanking a huge chunk of glass from his shin. Unlike the others, Baljeetolus had fallen amidst the broken vials that had exploded just moments before.

"Jeet!" Phineas gasped when he saw it, but the elf pursed his lips and shook his head.

"Malifishmirtz!" he reminded them. "I will be fine, but we cannot forget where we are!"

Malifishmirtz… Ferb quickly scanned the room, but finding the sorcerer wasn't hard; he was collapsed at the foot of his throne. Ferb didn't know if he was alive or not, but as far as he could see, Malifishmirtz wasn't moving.

"Something happened," Isabel panted, and when she failed sitting up on her own, Ferb helped her, putting his arms around her shoulders for support. "The magic in the room… I can't even explain it. I don't know what the heck Phineas did, but it was big."

"Bufavalous," Ferb said, starting to stand while still holding Isabel up.

Bufavalous got the message and crawled forward, replacing Ferb as Isabel's support. Phineas was frantically tearing the meager vestiges of his cloak into strips to wrap Baljeetolus' leg; and Baljeetolus was waiting for Ferb to meet his eyes. Once he did, Baljeetolus nodded determinedly.

"Go."

Well, if Baljeetolus were suggesting it, it couldn't be too bad of an idea, right? Ferb reclaimed the blade of Excaliferb in his bleeding fingers and began to cross the throne room.

The close he got, the more apparent it became that Malifishmirtz was still alive. Ferb could see his halted drags for breath, the way his body twitched randomly. Even more smoke curled from his skin. Ferb approached slowly, invalid sword raised, prepared at any moment for treachery; but Malifishmirtz didn't seem capable of moving beyond sharp, disturbing spasms.

Had whatever Phineas did to that potion really somehow do this?

That was when Ferb saw it: Malifishmirtz's staff, singed where it met the sorcerer's grasp. The darkness stretched to Malifishmirtz's hand, a blackened husk almost up to his shoulder. His entire staff arm had been mutilated.

"Blood magic," Baljeetolus commented from a little ways behind Ferb. The swordsman turned to see his friends approaching now, too: Baljeetolus with an arm draped around Phineas' shoulder, hobbling; and Isabel once again tucked in Bufavalous' hold.

"The connection must be two-way," Baljeetolus continued when no one else spoke. "Drawing blood from fairies, connected to the Malifishmirtz bloodline. Malifishmirtz must have been just as tied to the potion as the staff was."

"Two ways…" Phineas repeated, suddenly going pale. "So when my alchemy severed the blood magic connection—"

"Kablooey," Bufavalous finished, scowling as the sorcerer twitched again. "Damn well had it coming to him."

It looked like the remaining horn on top of his head was boiling… once a dark magic gift, turned to poison. Now the sickly obsidian bone matched his arm, husk on husk. Malifishmirtz was a broken man.

"We need to finish this." Of all mouths, it came out of Phineas', filled with a solemn determination that Ferb had never heard before. "We have to do it now. Right now."

One by one, the other's gazes fell back on the sorcerer, but Ferb found himself continuing to stare at them, instead. Who would have thought, after everything, that what would save their lives was a smoke screen, the most basic of their inventions?

Well, actually that wasn't really what it had been. At the end of the day, it was all of their strengths that saved them right now; not the power of just one potion. Without even one of them, they all would have perished; and instead, they'd carried through because of they simple fact that they were all completely committed to saving each other.

Ferb had never felt so damn humble in his life.

It was with humility, then, that he turned away from the others. It was with a clear head that he once again stared down at Malifishmirtz. And it was with absolute conviction, just like when he'd snapped Excaliferb, that Ferb knew what he needed to do; and he had to be the one to do it.

He was the one who pulled the vorpal blade from the stone. He was the one Excaliferb was named after. He was the improbable son of a man and one of the most powerful auracles known to nymph kind. He had magic in his veins. He was the chosen champion of the Lady of the Lake.

But none of that mattered, at least not to Ferb. None of that compared to the worth of the people standing behind him, gazing forward with immeasurable joy for having simply survived.

What did matter, then, was that his little brother was counting on him to bring this whole quest to a close. Baljeetolus and Bufavalous needed him to put an end to the evil in their land so they could heal and restore the countless lives this bloody conflict had torn apart. Isabel, who'd been through so much, who'd undone and remade the person she was so many times for the sake of her friends and the kingdom, deserved to finally have stability of self. His parents needed to stop living in hiding, and Candavere and Jeremiad had to raise little Amana without any danger.

His friends were so strong. They'd survived all of this together, and they'd proved they didn't need Ferb saving them; but Ferb would save them from this.

He stepped forward, putting himself between Malifishmirtz and the rest.

"Ferb?" Isabel caught him, clutching his sleeve. Her grip was weak, but it still captured him. He could see it in her face: her concern for him. She probably realized just like the others what he intended to do now. She didn't want him carrying that burden anymore than he wanted to impose that on her. But Ferb knew he could do this. He was the hero, after all; even if not in the way one would typically imagine.

He nodded at her, confirming he knew what he was doing, and reached up for her cheek. With that magic back inside of her, she was warm and vital to the touch—so different from the deathly ice he felt before, when he found her in that bloody room. She leaned into his hand. It was only for the briefest second, but that single second was the entire world.

Ferb gently pulled out of her grasp and turned back to Malifishmirtz, who still lied unmoving at their feet. This was the most disturbing part: not the idea of killing the sorcerer, but the idea of killing him like this—when he was so unnervingly human.

Malifishmirtz was always so cruel, so unnatural that it was hard to imagine they were the same species. But now rasping breaths rattled from his mouth, and Ferb was fully aware that the man lying at their feet was weak. He was flawed, mortal, an average soul that had been twisted to malicious greatness.

He was human.

But that didn't change what Ferb needed to do.

Excaliferb was unusually heavy in his hand, slick with a little bit of his blood. The broken blade was still imbued with fairy magic, he could feel it. He could feel the signature of Isabel's power in the familiar way the metal hummed in his hands, even if faintly. It was still there: the trace of her, practically making his whole body tingle.

A fairy's magic would bring the end of the Malifishmirtz line, huh? Well, Ferb figured this was close enough.

He strengthened his grip on the blade of Excaliferb, and in a decisive thrust, he brought it down into the sorcerer's chest.

And suddenly the orb on the top of the legendary staff burst the moment Malifishmirtz was killed. A torrent of water erupted forth, and they all shielded their eyes as they were bombarded with a frigid rain shower.

When Ferb opened his eyes again, the ground was soaked. They were standing in a pool of liquid, a puddle that stretched a good portion of the floor. It looked like water, clear and clean, except for the places around their feet, which churned a rusty sort of brown. They were all either covered in mud or blood, after all.

So… that was really it. They'd finally won. Malifishmirtz was defeated and the staff of his ancestors had been destroyed.

"Oh my god."

Phineas was the first to say it, and his legs gave out on him. He dropped to his knees in the water, his whole body quaking as he stared up at Ferb in disbelief. He was overcome by the sheer magnitude of their accomplishment; that this was actually over, and that they were okay. Baljeetolus wobbled and followed the alchemist's lead, and Ferb had to hand it to the elf; he was handling his injury like it was nothing at all.

They were beat up, bleeding and battered and exhausted to the point that they were on death's door; but they were still alive, regardless of anything else.

"Ferb." Isabel lifted a trembling hand toward him, and Ferb found himself lunging forward. She pushed away from Bufavalous at the same time, but even as the brute dropped her, Ferb caught her.

He held the entirety of her weight as she draped her arms around his neck and buried her face against him, but he somehow had the strength. She was so warm, and that… that was everything.

"Isabel, I—"

She kissed him, and despite her injuries and fatigue, he could feel her desperation, her craving for him, her love. It was almost overwhelming; but he tightened his hold on her and kissed her back.

They'd both survived. That was the meaning to the kiss, the force behind their movements. They were going to go home together. They were going to truly begin their lives.

"Ferbalot!"

That voice was familiar, and was just about the only thing that could have broken Ferb and Isabel apart. He released her lips just in time for Vanessa to rise from the water.

Had she brought the liquid here? Ferb didn't know, but he was relieved to see her; at the very least, her presence verified that this really was their victory.

"Vanessa," he greeted, thankful when Bufavalous stepped forward to support some of Isabel's weight.

Vanessa smiled at him. "Since you all won, maybe my mom will let me off the hook for helping out so much."

"Or maybe you'll be grounded for a decade or so."

Someone else spoke those words, someone new. Or, at the very least, someone Ferb felt like he hadn't heard for an entire lifetime; he hadn't, after all, heard the Lady of the Lake's voice in person since the very first day their quest began.

The water purred with familiar, comforting power. Mist rose from its surface and danced around them. Somehow, it made this horrible place almost feel… cozy.

A wave of eased washed over them as soon as the Lady of the Lake emerged from the water. She towered over them in a pillar of liquid, proud and impressive but by no means intimidating. She was everything Ferb expected her to be: breathtaking.

The Lady of the Lake developed a mischievous smile at her daughter's incredulous expression, making Ferb think Vanessa might actually be getting pretty close to off the hook for all of this, after all.

Then the Lady turned that smile onto them, and it softened with fondness.

"Well," she sighed, looking to each of them in turn. She lifted her hands. "You did it."

Hearing those words, the final bit of worry unknotted inside of Ferb's chest. He almost collapsed on the spot like his brother had; but instead he stepped forward. He cupped the broken blade of Excaliferb in both hands and held it up like an offering.

"This is for you."

The Lady of the Lake lifted an eyebrow, though out of surprise or amusement, he couldn't tell. If he were a wagering man—and, after he'd broken Excaliferb on a hunch, he supposed he had to say he was—he would have bet it was a bit of both.

"Even broken, you kept your sword last time," she mused. "Are you certain you don't wish to keep it again?"

It was true that Excaliferb would make one hell of a trophy; but Ferb shook his head.

"The quest wasn't over last time," he answered. "But this time, it is."

He would have no more need for magical swords. He would fill his life with people, not weapons. Ferb decided that started now.

The Lady of the Lake seemed to consider his words, and as she did, Ferb caught Vanessa's wide smile from over her mother's shoulder. Realizing she approved was more of a comfort than Ferb ever could have accounted for. He found he really liked Vanessa, and she'd secretly watched over them the entire way. He returned her smile with a nod and one of his own.

"I won't be one to argue, then," the Lady chuckled. She lifted one hand, and the water responded, floating up until it enveloped the blade. Once it had, it pulled the severed piece from his hand.

When they'd been at Lake Avalos, Ferb had stared in wonder as the Lady magically drew Excaliferb from the lake. Wide eyed, his gaze was glued the blade as it emerged on a swell of water. Now Ferb was beholding a similar scene; only this time, it was in reverse. Ferb watched as his steadfast blade sunk into the water. It glowed where the blade submerged, and just like that, was gone.

Ferb didn't know how he should have felt, but it was something close to relief.

"You have done this kingdom a great service," the Lady of the Lake continued. "I have seen much over the millennia, and I have to say even I am in awe of your accomplishments here." She looked to Ferb. "Your mother would have been proud."

Her words, at first so heartening, stabbed him in the chest at the very end.

"My mother," he managed, "is she—"

"Another time, champion," the Lady cut him off. "You are all either half-dead with exhaustion or are bleeding out as we speak. This comes first." She gestured to the water that surrounded them. "As you can see, my full power has been returned. Malifishmirtz no longer covets the parts of me that lived as magic in my sprites; and so I shall return the favor."

She raised one hand and flexed her fingers, and only once the water at their feet started glowing did Ferb realize what she meant.

Malifishmirtz had been stealing sprite wings, hardened dewdrops that had come from the Lady, because that water was the source of their power. It was a droplet of the Lady of the Lake's essence, and part of her magic. Now that his staff had been destroyed, it had all been released.

This water… it was a sprite graveyard.

Then they were hit with a pulse of heat and his friends gasp in surprise. Ferb breathed it in, suddenly feeling ten feet taller. The stitch in his side disappeared, as did the quake in his arms. The pain from cuts all over his body dulled, leaving him to take a deep, tranquil breath.

When Ferb opened his eyes again, he didn't quite feel brand new; but he was the closest he'd been in a long, long time.

Behind him, his friends finally had the strength to stand again. Phineas was grinning from ear to ear as he stretched his arms above his head. Baljeetolus pulled his hands away from his shin. His injury wasn't gone completely, but it was scabbed over; it looked weeks old. The small cuts on Bufavalous' face had faded and Isabel, while she still leaned heavily on the brute, was able to stand on her own.

Ferb's throat went tight. He held his hand out, and Isabel staggered forward, taking it. He pulled her close, holding her steady, but she was so much better than she'd been before. He turned back to the Lady of the Lake, and this time, he couldn't keep his eyes from being misty.

"There's only so much that even my magic can do," the Lady said with a rueful smile, "but whatever's left I'm sure will quickly fade with a few nights of sleep and a home-cooked meal."

"Home…" Phineas was practically drooling from the thought. God, that sounded so good right now. He wanted to hug his mom for a whole mark straight without letting go. And her food. "Home sounds awesome."

He looked to Ferb, and a whole ocean-full of longing could have been filled between them. Home. How long had they been on the road? A month? Less? More? A lifetime.

"Home can mean a lot of things," the Lady of the Lake laughed. "For each of you, I think it means something different. That will be my parting gift to you."

She began to lift her arms again, but Phineas cut her off by asking, "Can you actually send us home?"

It was Vanessa this time that developed a cheeky sort of grin.

"My mother won't necessarily be sending you home. She'll be sending you where you need to be."

Phineas met Ferb's eyes again. He saw his own confusion mirrored in his brother's expression. Phineas cleared his throat.

"Aren't they the same?"

Vanessa shook her head and made to answer—but the Lady of the Lake waved her down.

"Always, the most valuable answers are those you find yourself, Phineas," she responded instead. "I will put each of you on the right paths you need to follow. In return for all you have done, I will deliver you to your destinies; but what you do with it?" She tilted an eyebrow in challenge. "I suppose that's up to you."

Phineas blinked. "What do you—" He cut himself off. He figured it was ridiculous to ask the deity what she meant; she obviously meant for them to figure it out on their own.

It sounded like she was going to send them somewhere. Phineas was all for that if it meant not having to cross the entire kingdom again! But something about her words was needling at him. Each of you. Paths. Destinies.

Was she intending to send them to different places?

Ferb's head snapped toward him, alarm written on his features; he'd come to the same conclusion Phineas had.

"Wait," Phineas blurted out, but the Lady of the Lake already raised her arms again.

"Good luck," Vanessa laughed, smirking like she knew something they didn't.

Oh man, Phineas was uneasy about this! He took a step toward his brother, reaching out, determined to latch onto him.

Now the water glowed again, but even brighter than before. Blue, almost green, so intense they had to squeeze their eyes shut.

"Thank you," were the last words they heard from the Lady of the Lake before everything went black.


Tadaaaa! Hail the conquering heroes! *insert trumpet fanfare here!*

Anyhoo, obviously this will be over soon. Now there is just epilogues. Yes, that is plural. There are six epilogues in total. I know, that's a lot, but I really believe you're going to enjoy them. The epilogues have hands down been the most fun thing for me to write ever! And I really think some of the ways things work out will really surprise you ;) Next chapter alone will be proof of that.

That being said, it's conclusion time! Last call to make predictions on how things end for these characters. I would love to hear your prediction for the ending for each character, and the closest person will get a shout-out and endless virtual hugs from yours truly!

I will see you guys soon.

All my love,

Lilly-Belle