"Where are you going?" Phineas wondered.
Perry stopped in the doorway and turned to look at his young owner. Pointing over his shoulder while pretending to flick a switch, he gestured that he was going to go downstairs and check the power box in case anything had been damaged. He then pointed at Phineas as if telling him to stay where he was unless the platypus needed his help.
Phineas crossed his arms. "Why does everyone still treat me like I'm a kid?" he asked stubbornly. "Fine; I'll stay here. Happy?"
Perry smiled in amusement and nodded his head before walking out of the room.
"Yeesh; if he wasn't a secret agent, I probably would have followed him out," the teenager muttered with a grin. He looked about the room for a moment or two before staring at his cell phone, which was sitting next to him on the bed. Phineas tilted his head and picked the device up. "I wonder why Isabella hasn't called me yet to find out what happened…"
Phineas…
Phineas quickly snatched up his head when he heard a whisper nearby. His imagination already hard at work with the possibilities of who or what had spoken his name, the teenager widened his eyes and searched the dark room.
Phineas Flynn…
"Wh-who's there?" he asked aloud while rising to his feet. Tucking away his cellphone, he attempted to calm his heart which was already beginning to beat quickly. "Who are you, whoever or whatever you are, and how do you know my name?"
I know all…
A soft light from Phineas' side of the room casted eerie shadows over the wall he was facing. Realizing that the light was coming from behind him, he slowly turned around to see where its origins were.
Sitting on his dresser next to his Tinker Box was the stone he had found earlier that evening in the snow. Unlike when Phineas had taken it into the house, it was now glowing brightly in shades of blue, pink and purple. Phineas had set it down on his toque after studying it, considering it was no longer glowing once he had brought it into the house. But now it had begun to once more, this time casting water-like illusions on the walls.
Phineas stared at the stone in silence before nervously walking towards it. "Was that…the stone?" he asked, more or less speaking to himself.
The stone rippled in light. No, it is the sender of the Stone to which you speak, came a deep and wise voice.
The voice made the teenager halt in his tracks and stare in bewilderment at the object.
Step closer, Phineas.
"How… h-h-how do you know my name?" Phineas asked anxiously as he inched forward.
I know more about you and others than you may think, the Stone replied. Now come closer. The Stone won't bite.
It was the first time Phineas found himself torn between curiosity and caution. He stopped a few feet away from the stone and, after reaching a decision, reached into his jeans pocket and began pulling out his cellphone.
That won't work, Phineas, the Stone announced. I need to speak with you alone.
"W-w-ait; so it was you who made the lights go out?" Phineas wondered in shock. "And my cellphone? Are you the reason why Ferb can't reach me?"
Yes; I had to cut all communications in order to reach you.
"… Wh-why did you need to speak with me?"
The Stone glowed brighter for a second or two. Pick up the Stone and I will tell you.
Although alarms were going off in his head, Phineas cautiously inched towards the dresser while holding out his right hand. He was incredibly curious about what this Stone had to say to him—stones do not normally have much to say. In fact, they do even less than what a platypus can do. But at the same time, he felt a small voice at the back of his mind telling him to stay away from it. An adventure certainly awaited, but what kind, Phineas was unsure.
But, being the curious Tinkerer that he was, he reached out and wrapped his fingers around the jewel. Its light continued to shine between them as Phineas pulled the Stone towards him, almost holding it up to eye level. Its beauty seemed almost unrealistic now.
"What do you want?" Phineas asked.
The Stone rippled with light like a pebble being thrown into a pond. You have been appointed with an important task, it spoke. Others have been chosen to accompany you.
"An important task? What important task?"
You will need to leave certain things behind for a short while…
Phineas frowned in confusion. "Leave things behind?" he echoed. "What does that mean?"
Your mission does not take place in your home city…
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I am not moving away just because a rock told me so," Phineas argued. "I'm in school, I've got guitar lessons, I've got a play to practice for, I've got friends and family here—!"
You have been specifically chosen for this task.
"B-but I've got a right to refuse, don't I?"
The stone paused. You've touched the Stone, the voice whispered as it grew brighter and brighter in his hand. I chose you for this mission, and so you are the only one who can accomplish it. Because you have touched the Stone, you have already embarked on that mission. Now let go of it and allow it to tell you of this task you have been appointed. All the information you will need will be given here and now; the rest… will be up to you.
Phineas found himself doing what the Stone instructed. As it spoke, he slowly loosened his grasp around it and watched it float up into the air. He was no longer certain whether this was a dream or not; in fact, the only thing he was certain of was that he had let his curiosity get the better of him, and was now being forced to play along in this seemingly twisted game.
Within mere seconds, everything around him seemed to vanish as whispers filled his head with information he honestly believed to be unreal. It felt like a waterfall of information was being poured into him, almost pushing out everything else he knew to be true. A strange feeling overwhelmed him, but it did not make him feel at ease; in fact, the more he was hearing and absorbing, the more he was regretting having touched the Stone in the first place.
He had no idea how long he had been standing there or even when the Stone had floated back down into his hand and ceased to glow; all he knew was that when he came to again, the lights in his bedroom had been turned on, the rest of the house had been alit once more, and the giant video game screen was reactivated.
And his cell phone vibrated, announcing that a text had been received.
But Phineas did not answer it.
*****
It was six o'clock when the front door finally opened again. Linda walked in, arms filled with groceries, while giggling. "As if you two were in traffic that long," she teased while taking her shoes off.
Lawrence, followed by Ferb, entered the house behind her, covered in snow. "Well, getting cut off and landing in the ditch did not help much either," the man replied as his son closed the door behind him. "We were lucky when that man pulled over to help us. Now we got back in time for dinner! Isn't that right, Ferb?"
Ferb looked up from taking his jacket off and brushing a bit of the snow off of it. With a small grin, he nodded.
"What's on the menu tonight, Dear?" Lawrence asked.
Linda set her groceries down on the counter. "Lasagne and veggies," she replied. "Candace made it for me while I did some cleaning in their bathroom."
"Aw, how sweet of her… Though Phineas should enjoy that. He loves her cooking."
Linda laughed softly. "Phineas loves everything about Candace, Lawrence," she said, making her husband laugh. "He admires her on all levels."
"Speaking of the little bugger, where is he?" Lawrence wondered. He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Phineas!" he shouted. "Phineas, we're ho-ome!"
"We have some of Candace's cooking!" Linda added. When no reply came, she shared a puzzled look with her husband. "I wonder what he's up to up there?"
While Lawrence shrugged, Ferb picked up his bag and headed for the stairs. "It's alright, I'll let him know," he replied. As he ascended the stairs however, he began wondering again if his brother was alright or not. Unknown to his father, Ferb had been secretly worrying about Phineas since he had not received any reply to his text. He attempted to remain calm as he climbed the stairs, but as soon as he had reached the second floor, Ferb broke into a sprint and dashed for his bedroom.
Without hesitation, he turned the doorknob and swung the door open. "Phineas!" he exclaimed.
Ferb stopped cold in his words; there, sitting on the bed, reading a book, was Phineas. As soon as the door opened and his name was shouted, the teenager raised his head and looked up inquisitively at his stepbrother. Perry was sleeping near Ferb's bed, on the little purple cushion.
Ferb stared in surprise at his brother before blinking and shaking some sense into his head. "Uuuhh, you're… alright," he stated. After a moment of silence, he stepped into the room. "Um, what happened to your cell?"
Phineas looked at the phone, which was lying by the lamp. "Uuuuhhh… it malfunctioned," he hesitated. He quickly looked back at his book and seemed to fight the temptation to raise his hand up to his ear and scratch it.
Uh oh, Ferb noticed. He's hiding something. "Are… you sure that's what happened?" he asked as he set his bag down.
"Y-yes." Phineas' reply was quick yet reluctant all at once.
Ferb noticed the fear in his brother's reply again, but did not question it. "Uh, Mother brought some of Candace's lasagne for dinner," he announced. "Did you want to—!"
"—I'm… not hungry, Ferb."
Okay; since when does Phineas say no to Candace's cooking? Ferb walked up to his bed and sat down on the side facing Phineas'. "Is everything alright, Phin?" he asked softly.
Phineas closed his book and set it aside before laying down on his bed. He stared up at the ceiling and said nothing as he closed his eyes. Obviously, he knew that Ferb would be able to read what his dark blue irises were hiding, and so closing them would temporarily keep his brother from discovering whatever Phineas knew.
Ferb did not like this. Phineas only did it when something was bothering him more than usual. "Phineas, what's wrong?" Ferb asked, much more concerned now.
Phineas was silent for a moment longer. "… N-nothing," he said incredibly softly.
"But—!"
Phineas sighed loudly yet miserably and then turned onto his side, back facing Ferb. He hugged himself and tucked his legs against his stomach. "Just… leave me alone, Ferb," he whispered, almost fearfully. "I need to… think about things."
Ferb did not normally worry this badly about Phineas; like everyone, Phineas needed alone-time, even if he was normally incredibly cheerful. But what was bothering Ferb about this moment was the fact that he knew something was dreadfully wrong and his best friend was refusing to talk to him about it.
On any normal occasion, Ferb would remain there until Phineas would speak to him. But this seemed too serious of a matter—there was no way Phineas would speak to him about anything yet; the time was not right. So, all Ferb could do was get to his feet and leave the room.
Something was wrong… or else it would be soon… and Phineas knew something about it.
Morning came with sunshine, which made the fresh snow look as though it was covered in beautiful white sparkles. It would have been the perfect day to adventure outside and build another great invention, had it not been for the fact that there were still classes to attend.
Ferb woke up at the usual hour he and Phineas normally did; Phineas was up fifteen minutes after him. Phineas pulled out his sketchbook and attempted to come up with another idea, but Ferb could tell that he was having difficulty—undoubtedly because of whatever had been bothering him the day before. Phineas would begin jotting notes down or sketching something out until he stopped and scribbled over it or erased his work. He had to tear out a page at one point because it was covered in scribbles.
That was not the only sign that gave away his preoccupied mind; Ferb noticed that Phineas never flashed a single smile. There were no laughs, no exclamations, not even a pillow fight. Phineas would often begin his day by grabbing his pillow and tossing it across the room onto Ferb, who in turn would wake up and toss it back—Phineas never picked up his pillow that morning.
He did not announce what they were going to do that day.
Even more alarming, he hardly made any eye contact with Ferb at all. But whatever Ferb tried, Phineas would not tell him what was on his mind.
"Phineas, are you feeling alright?" Linda asked later that morning when the boys came down for breakfast. She had noticed her son's gloomy look and was also wondering why he hardly touched his cereal. Walking over to the table, Linda held out a hand and placed it against her son's forehead. "Hm; you don't feel hot…" Lawrence and Ferb, who were also sitting at the table eating breakfast, looked on silently.
Phineas moved his head away. "I'm fine, Mom," he said softly. He looked at her with tired eyes. "I just had a rough night, that's all."
"Did you stay up playing that video game again?"
"No… I just couldn't sleep…"
Ferb noticed the hesitance in his stepbrother's voice; whatever Phineas was hiding, did it have something to do with the game?
Linda seemed convinced that something was wrong as well. She looked worriedly at Phineas. "Are you sure you're not sick?" she asked. "Because I'm not working today; I can take you to the doctor if you need to go…"
To her surprise, Phineas grabbed her hand and held it in both of his, almost as though he was afraid to let go. Ferb and Lawrence looked on in surprise and curiosity, having both noticed Phineas' movement.
The sixteen-year-old held onto his mother's hand while staring at it in silence before standing up and letting it go. This time, he wrapped his arms around her neck and buried his face in her shirt.
Linda was at once startled and worried by this movement. But deciding that it was not a good time to ask questions, she simply wrapped her arms around Phineas' waist and held him closely.
"Could you drive me to school, Mom?" Phineas whispered, almost too softly for the others to hear.
Linda remained silent for a moment before rubbing his head. "Is there something you need to tell me, Sweetie?" she asked quietly.
"No… I just want you to drive me to school."
"If you really need me to, I can… We'll just tell the bus driver that you and Ferb—!"
Phineas shook his head. "Not Ferb," he interrupted. "Just me… Ferb can ride the bus."
Linda raised her eyebrows in surprise and looked at her stepson. Ferb had heard those words as well, and was just as startled as his parents were.
"Did you two have an argument?" Linda asked in her son's ear.
Phineas moved his head. "… No… I just want him to ride the bus…"
Still utterly confused by these words, Linda finally complied and told Ferb to mention to the bus driver that Phineas would be going to school with her. Ferb did as he was told, but not without a drop of concern or confusion.
Isabella was surprised to see only Ferb get on the bus when he did. She watched him walk up to the seat behind her and take his place before clearing her throat. "Uh, where's Phineas?" she wondered.
Ferb placed his bag next to him. "He's going to school with Mum," he replied.
"Does he have an appointment?"
"No… he just didn't want to ride the bus."
Isabella frowned in confusion. "That's weird," she muttered.
Ferb shook his head. "No; what's weird is that he looks like he's hiding something," he said. Looking up at his neighbour, Ferb crossed his arms. "Not only that, but I think he's avoiding me. He didn't come up with anything to do this lunch hour because he seemed preoccupied, and he never even looked at me." He looked at his feet worriedly. "I don't think I said anything to bother him… I mean, all I did was attempt to text him to find out why his cellphone was acting up…"
"Yeah, he mentioned that when we were playing The Seer yesterday," Isabella noted. When Ferb looked up at her again, she continued. "After our homework, Phineas asked if I'd like to play video games with him. Just him and me—believe it or not," she added sardonically. "Anyway, he said that you had tried to call while he was doing homework, but you couldn't hear him and the line went dead."
Ferb nodded.
"I found that kinda weird, but didn't dwell on it until I lost communications with Phineas…"
At these words, Ferb raised his head again and stared at her in bewilderment. "Repeat that?" he asked.
Isabella shrugged. "Just when I was going to open the chest we found, Phineas said that the lights in the house went out," she explained. "And then when I said that it might be a short circuit, he asked me to repeat because he couldn't hear me. And then… the line went dead and his Mage just froze in place with the word offline floating over his head."
Ferb frowned in confusion. "Did you try calling him?" he asked.
"Yeah… but his cell was always busy. And then my texts wouldn't go through for some reason."
"Odd… my last text never went through either."
Isabella rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe his behaviour has something to do with what happened during that time," she muttered. She looked at Ferb again. "After at least an hour, I tried texting him again, and this time it went through… but he never texted me back. What happened when you got home?"
"Phineas… wanted to be left alone," Ferb said quietly. "He said that he had things to think through. He never came down for dinner, and he was already tucked in bed when I came back upstairs…"
"This is really strange… Phineas is never this secretive. You think something's wrong?"
"Either that… or something will be."
They arrived at school to find Baljeet and Buford already waiting by Ferb's locker. When asked, neither of them said to have seen or even noticed Phineas arrive—Baljeet was normally at school early, considering he only lived a few blocks down the street, but he never even saw Linda's car pull into the school parking lot.
"Did he have an appointment?" the Indian teenager asked.
Ferb shook his head in reply.
"Apparently, he's been acting really secretive," Isabella announced. "Something happened yesterday when I was playing The Seer with him and—!"
"Oh! You mean you two played without telling us???" Baljeet interrupted excitedly.
"Does that mean he took you on a cyber-date or something?" Buford added.
Isabella shot him an irritated glare while Ferb rolled his eyes. "No," she said behind clenched teeth.
"Oh; so then, did he openly announced his feelings to you?" Baljeet wondered.
"He's not that smart, Dweeb," Buford muttered. "We are talking about the same guy who's been oblivious about romance since he was a kid."
Isabella was becoming more and more annoyed. Ferb sighed and took off his winter clothes. "Bottom line, Phineas and Isabella were cut off for about an hour and when I came back home, he refused to talk to me about what it was that was bothering him," he explained.
"Phineas is hiding something from us?" Baljeet said in shock.
"No," Isabella muttered stubbornly. "From us." She pointed out her and Ferb.
"That is what I said. From us."
Isabella squeezed her fists in frustration.
"Anyway," Buford groaned while grabbing Baljeet's shirt collar and pulling him backwards, "What are we supposed to do about his attitude? So, Dinner Bell's gotten secretive; who isn't nowadays?"
"Phineas isn't," Ferb clarified. "He gets too excited about things to keep secrets. From me at least. The only secret he kept from anyone other than myself was how his biological father died."
"Whoop-dee-do. He's sixteen, for cryin' out loud. Everyone becomes a little moody or secretive at that age, Dude. It's called puberty."
Ferb shot him an irritated glare in his turn before slapping his forehead.
"Could we change the subject or something???" Isabella asked impatiently. "I've got a feeling this is going somewhere girls don't want to go… Not to mention puberty usually happens a few years before sixteen, dork," she added under her breath.
"Back to my question, then," Buford replied. "What are we supposed to do about Pointy's attitude?"
"We need to find a way to have him tell us what's bothering him."
"Nice, my kind of job." Buford smiled cleverly and smacked his right fist against the palm of his left hand. "Where do you want me to start; clobbering or locker stuffing?"
Isabella's eyes went wide at this, just as Ferb took a step forward. "We aren't going to use violence to force Phineas to tell us anything," he said sternly.
"Well, how else are we going to get what we need?"
"By asking politely."
"Uh-huh; and how well has that worked for you so far?"
Neither Ferb nor Isabella said anything at this. They both stared at Buford in silence before looking at each other.
Baljeet shook his head with a sigh while Buford rolled his eyes. "Yyyeah; that's what I thought."
Silence fell over them until the five-minute warning bell rang. The students around them rushed off to class before they got a tardy, slamming their lockers closed or simply picking up their bags and leaving. Isabella was about to suggest that they all do the same when voices down the hallways announced the arrival of a certain someone:
"Hiya, Phineas," a girl cooed.
"Are you doing something else at lunch hour, Phineas?" another wondered.
Several more girls giggled, finally causing Ferb and the others to raise their heads and look over their shoulders. Sure enough, headed towards them was none other than the tinkerer himself: Ferb's stepbrother, Phineas Flynn.
"You got here pretty late for someone who took the short route to school," Buford noted.
Phineas did not look up at him. He simply walked past his friends, unlocked his locker and stuffed his things inside. "I… just went for a walk around the school yard," he said very softly. He pulled out the right class binder and then dug into his jacket pocket.
Ferb looked on in surprise for a moment; he was not sure if his eyes had played tricks on him, but from where he was standing, he thought to have seen something glowing being pulled discretely out of his brother's pocket. Phineas seemed to put a great effort into pulling whatever-it-was out of his pocket and then into his jeans pocket without anyone noticing.
"Phineas, what happened yesterday during the black out?" Isabella asked meekly while leaning towards him. She, like Buford and Baljeet, had not noticed the glowing item.
Phineas stuffed his jacket into the locker but did not look at his friend. "Nothing important," he said quietly.
"But Ferb said—!"
"—I just had to get a few things… thought out, that's all."
"But you never came back to the game after."
"… I didn't feel like playing it."
At these words, Baljeet gasped. "Did I hear that right?" he said, pretending to clean out an ear. "Did you just say that you did not want to play… The Seer???"
"Weren't you the guy who was flippin' out when you bought it?" Buford pointed out.
Phineas closed his locker and kept his head down. "I didn't feel like playing, that's all," he repeated.
"But—!"
"I didn't feel like playing, Buford. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"
Buford fell silent. After sharing a startled look, Ferb, Isabella and Baljeet looked at Phineas, awaiting an answer.
But Phineas never gave one. He simply turned on his heels and walked off. "I'll see you guys in class," he muttered, although he did not sound incredibly thrilled with the idea.
The other four teenagers watched him leave before Buford frowned and crossed his arms. "Okay, I give," he said. "If we're gonna figure out what the heck's crawled up his leg, then we'd better do it before his 'tude ticks me off." He looked at Ferb. "Considering you're the next one in line for the Idea-making-ups, what are we going to do today?"
Ferb looked at him in silence before turning his head and watching his brother leave.
*****
Morning went by quietly and incredibly slowly for Ferb. Although Phineas sat next to him during the classes they shared, the green-haired teenager did not dare ask his brother what information he was hiding—he was going to wait until classes were over, and see if his brother would be more cooperative then.
According to Isabella and Baljeet, for the one morning class they had together with Phineas and not Ferb, they reported that the red-head hardly spoke at all, or even looked at them.
By Science Class, they were all convinced that Phineas was hiding something. Once again, he was sitting next to his brother, but Ferb thought it would be best to keep silent for the time being.
Phineas hardly looked up as his teacher taught about the human body and its organs. He was spending most of his time playing with his fingers, almost as if nervously waiting for something to happen. Ferb found this odd, considering Science had been one of the few classes both he and Phineas enjoyed the most.
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