Monty stood and waited by the receptionist desk.
Someone tapped him on the shoulder.
It was Vanessa.
"Hey." Monty said, grinning at her. "What are you doing here?"
"My dad told me what happened." Vanessa said, smiling a little. "I think he's secretly worried. I'm sorry about Perry. Did they say if he was going to be all right?"
"They don't know yet." Monty sighed. "Right now, all I know is that my father's lunch is ready."
Vanessa gave him a pity laugh.
"I got your flowers." Monty said. "They mixed them up with Agent P's presents. Man, if sleeping in got you the same amount of gifts as a coma did, I'd be rich."
He guessed he'd gone too far in the stupid-jokes-that-might-actually-make-Vanessa-laugh department, because he got no response.
"I've known him since he was a little pup." Monty said.
"He's a cool guy." Vanessa said. "And I know my dad appreciates him. He's been bringing him so many teddy bears, I'm sure that room is filled."
"It is." Monty said. "I tripped over them when I tried to visit him. Luckily, it was a soft landing. He has tons of cards, too. And for some reason, there's a tiny boot next to his bed."
"What size?" Vanessa asked.
Monty started laughing, but stopped abruptly when he saw her serious expression. "Like, Perry's size."
"Oh." Vanessa said, losing interest. "Well, I'd better get back to my dad's place. He'll start freaking out if he finds out I snuck out the back door."
"Okay." Monty said. "See you, I guess."
...
"Sixteen times I lost this arm." An elderly ghost told Perry, pointing at his arm. "Sixteen times I got it back."
"Seventeen!" Giggled a puppy ghost, running off with the man's arm.
The man shook his remaining fist. "SHYYY!"
Daly laughed as Shy streaked past him. "Seventeen going on eighteen, Sir Knightenhorse!"
The old man grumbled something and went after Shy.
Terrence filled the spot where Sir Knightenhorse had once sat next to Perry. "How you doing?"
"All right." Perry said. "I'm kind of getting sleepy, but I'm all right."
"I'm glad you brought Willow." Terrence said. "She seems to be having a good time."
Willow and Kevinly Drake appeared to be arm-wrestling. Three ghosts Perry didn't know were cheering them on.
"I can't believe I didn't know she was blind." Perry said. "I mean, she's so capable it just never crossed my mind. I should have known, though. It was obvious. Impressive, though. You know she can tell each type of flower apart just by touching it? I can't even tell them apart by LOOKING at them."
"She likes flowers." Terrence said.
"That's for sure." Perry said. "Why is she blind, though? I thought ghosts didn't carry their afflictions with them into Gluum. I mean, I'm all in one piece."
"Anything that has to do with their death doesn't come with them." Terrence said. "Arthur was half an alligator before he died. It had no cause for his death."
"How on EARTH is he like that?"
"I don't know. Perhaps he was a magician."
"How did Willow die?"
"I think from illness. And pretty young, too. She doesn't look to be much more than three."
"So the illness didn't come with her… but her blindness did?"
"Yeah."
"Where's Leanna?" Sir Knightenhorse asked, reattaching his arm. Shy giggled maniacally.
"Dunno." Daly responded. "But I couldn't care less, anyway. I exiled her outta the town forever ago. She was behaving oddly."
"Why would you exile her?" Kevinly Drake asked. His momentary distraction caused Willow to shove his arm down on the table. He paid no attention to the Willow supporters cheering around him. "She's been a Gluum resident for years. And it'd break her heart to leave that mansion."
"I moved the mansion." Daly shrugged. "And it doesn't matter. When people start getting weird, I move them. Remember the last time someone was being weird and I did nothing? Simon Sircumference. Nearly took over Gluum."
"Good point, Dalrond." Kevinly Drake said.
...
Perry ate the last of his pasta and sat back, staring at the ceiling.
The party had actually been kind of fun. Arthur and Terrence sat with him to watch the fireworks, and Teresa asked him to dance a couple of times. Now that it was all over, Perry was kind of sad… and a little overwhelmed.
He hadn't ever made so many friends all at once. Back when he was younger, Terrence was his only friend. Now he had Pinky, Peter, Darren and Devon, of course, but it had taken him a while to befriend them. Especially Darren. And he didn't see friends like Morey the moose and Sven the seagull very often.
But now, over the course of only a few days, he had made friends with Arthur, Teresa, Ruby, Willow… even Mr. Brownie. And he had grown to like Daly a little more. He appreciated the way Daly was able to take things so lightly.
His thoughts turned to his family and friends back in the real world, and the homesickness hit him once again. He missed Phineas… Ferb… Candace… Monogram… Doofenshmirtz… That guy that always walked the poodle near the Quickie-Mart… Jeremy… Linda… Lawrence… Baljeet…
By the time Perry arrived at Kendrine Adems, the teen pop sensation he so despised, he was in tears. He just flat-out missed Danville. Why did he have to get hit by that stupid car?
"Aww. Don't be cry."
Perry turned around and glared at Daly. "Will you go away?"
Daly grinned.
"What the heck do you want?"
"Just thought you'd like to know that as miserable as you are here, you've made a lotta the residents super-happy."
"I'm not miserable. Not as much as I was when I first got here."
"Then why is a steady stream of H2O leaking out of your eyes?"
Perry wiped his cheeks. "Look, will you just leave me alone?"
"I'd love to, really, but I'm obligated to ensure everyone's at least slightly happy here." Daly pointed at a chain that had somehow appeared around his hind leg. "Now your burden's on me. It's gotta have something to do with Gluum."
"I want to go back home. To my real home."
"To pain, suffering, and the strains of life." Daly said mockingly.
"You don't understand." Perry said. "Yes, life is hard sometimes, but it's also wonderful. Just because you couldn't stand it, and you love death and decay like unicorns love rainbows and bunnies, doesn't mean that it's a bad thing."
Daly smiled.
"What are you smiling about?"
"You love life."
"Yes, I do, as a matter of fact."
"Do you respect it?"
"What the heck is that supposed to mean?"
Daly closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating. "Ruby was murdered because a pair of humans were bored. Terrence was murdered for the benefit of a human. Teresa died the way you almost did… disrespected, though. Have you met Ursula, the urchin? Killed slowly. Painfully. For the interest of a human. And Arthur? Simply for the joy of the hunt."
Perry blinked back tears. "Shut up."
"You do respect life." Daly said. "You see the horrible ways in which life was taken from each creature. And that, Perry, gives back to them what was taken from them. Yes, their lives are gone, but they have gained back the respect and dignity nabbed from them. Because of you. You are a good soul."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Perry asked.
"Nothing." Daly said. "Save for the fact that we would all miss you if you left."
"You don't even like me." Perry grumbled.
"What more should you expect from a creature that died of his own greed and thirst for revenge?" Daly asked.
Perry bit back a sarcastic reply.
"Besides." Daly smiled smugly. "I respect you. You're not trapped here unless I keep you here. Go forth. Climb the mountain. Return to your true home."
...
"I shouldn't have told Candace." Phineas said, curled up on his bed. "I shouldn't have."
"Once Perry wakes up, we'll figure out what to do."
"And if he doesn't?"
Ferb looked back up at his videogame on the projector in front of their beds. The little tiny character hopped over 8-bit snakes.
Phineas watched as the character died again and again. "Those snakes are so close together. It looks hard."
"It is hard." Ferb said. He tried to jump his character over the snakes again and failed. "Aggh."
The game reloaded. Ferb began jumping over the snakes. A random dancing cactus appeared on the screen and stood next to the snakes. "AAAH! WHY IS THERE A CACTUS ALL OF A SUDDEN?"
Phineas giggled. "Cactus-TASTIC!"
"Okay, that's it. If this game is going to keep glitching, I'm not playing." Ferb switched his system off. "Good night, Phin."
"Night."
The room got cold. A faint light glowed through the window.
"Turn your booklight off." Phineas muttered.
"It's not me." Ferb insisted.
The boys sat up and looked out the window.
A thin dog wearing a tattered coat and heavy chains smiled at them with pointed teeth. He was grey-blue, and almost transparent. He motioned them over to them.
"Who are you?" Phineas asked.
"Malete from the eighteen-hundreds." The dog whispered in a language Phineas was somehow able to understand. He grinned maliciously. "You know where your platypus is?"
"In the hospital." Phineas said.
"No." Malete said. "Come."
He vanished.
Phineas and Ferb looked at each other.
Ferb stood up. He grabbed his coat from the side of his bed and opened the window.
"Ferb..." Phineas got up and went over to stand next to him. "I don't like this."
A freezing wind swept over them, and suddenly they were standing by an ominous-looking mansion. It was huge.
Malete stood in front of it. He waved them closer.
"The night I died… a cold, cruel one. Right over there." He pointed with a clawed finger at the overgrown street in front of the mansion. "There was once a small home. Not much to look at. About as broken-down and rotting as this mansion now, but with a history. That home was the death of me. Both I and another dog, by the name of Wuaz, attempted to claim it as our own. We fought. I won. I killed Wuaz. But before the light went out of his eyes forever, he dragged me down with him. He managed to continue on. He is free. He goes where he likes. But me… I am forever chained here. A trapped soul. One that can never move on."
"And what does this mansion have to do with that?" Phineas asked.
"This mansion… the heart and soul of one person. You can hear them." Malete said. "They speak to you. They come to you. Feed on energy. But you can hear them."
"…What?" Phineas asked.
Malete rattled his chains. "Hear them. Speak to them. It works." He vanished.
Phineas slowly approached the mansion.
"…Perry?" He called.
A squeal sounded, and Phineas jumped back.
"We have to find Perry." Phineas said. "That dog couldn't have just searched us out for nothing."
Ferb nodded. "Onward."