Phineas slipped in some mud but quickly regained his footing. "You'll find out when we get inside, Buford," he said, coming to a stop at the large doors. As the others slowed down as well, he walked over to one of the giant knockers and placed his hands around it. "Ferb, come gimme a hand, will you?" he asked.
Ferb did as he was told and helped Phineas raise the knocker. Slowly, they knocked it against the door thrice before letting it go and backing away. The knocks echoed loudly in the air around them and inside the tower, so there was no way they could have gone unnoticed.
The sound of rain falling hard was the only thing to breach the silence as the teenagers waited. Isabella eventually walked over to Phineas and glued herself against him, notifying him that she was freezing and needed warmth. Without noticing, Phineas wrapped an arm around her while continuing to watch the doors.
After what seemed to be ages to five soaked and wet teenagers, the sound of one of the doors opening slowly reached their ears. With a low groan, the door Phineas and Ferb had knocked on began to swing backwards, opening just wide enough for someone of Buford's size to fit in. Two hands appeared around the door and then out peeked the head of a young man with glowing pale blue hair and white skin.
"Is… is that a Light Elf?" Ferb whispered in his brother's ear. He had a feeling that Phineas would know, considering he had learned how to recognize everyone and everything in the game.
Phineas nodded his reply. "One from the North Country," he whispered as the short child-like creature walked into view. "Those ones are the kind that can't grow any taller than a ten-year-old."
The elf was wearing a very beautiful suit, completed with small boots. Its entire body, garments included, glowed dimly. It stared at the teenagers in silence, its giant green eyes studying these strangers from head to toe.
Phineas then dug into his pocket and pulled out the stone. It glowed brightly within his grasp, almost at the same strength as the elf's body.
The elf stared at it with wide eyes and then looked at Phineas while gasping in shock. Then, after a short moment, it turned on its heels while ushering the teenager to follow him. "Quickly, quickly, come in before they see you!" it whispered urgently.
Phineas tucked the stone away and followed the creature inside. Isabella, holding on tightly to her best friend's sweater, immediately followed; Ferb, Baljeet and Buford came in next.
The warmth within those walls was a greeting all five adolescents were glad to receive. Phineas finally removed his hood here while the others ringed the water out of their clothes or hair. This gave him the chance to really absorb the details in the architecture around him.
The tower's insides seemed to have been built in Gothic style, and the paint used gave it the illusion of being built in gold. Pillars and Doric columns surrounded them in a perfect circle. A giant diamond-decorated chandelier hung above their heads. A set of giant stairs, like in palaces, traveled up the tower in a spiral to the different levels. The marble floor was filled with designs that seemed to shape a map of some sort. Words written in a tongue Phineas could not understand were placed here and there in a neat manner as well.
The one thing that seemed to catch Phineas' eye the most, though, was the chandelier. Despite it hanging directly overhead, it was doing so… without any suspension. There was no rope holding it in place; in fact, the diamond lights seemed to be floating in mid air.
Phineas remained in his trance until a hand reached out and tugged on his wet sleeve. When he looked down, he found that it was the elf doing so.
"He has been waiting for you, you must come now," the elf insisted.
"We having a banquet or something?" Buford joked.
Phineas looked at him for a moment until the elf began to lead him to the center of the room. There, the creature instructed him to stand at the very center of the hall, directly over a circular design. Then, it beckoned for the others to come do the same. Once all five were standing together, the elf held out its hand to Phineas, obviously asking for the stone.
Phineas blinked before digging into his pocket and pulling it out. The elf pulled out a piece of thick cloth, grabbed the stone with it and squatted down near the ground. Here, he placed the stone in an indent in the floor. It slid in with ease, as though it was meant to fit there.
The stone began to glow brightly and sent rays of lights shooting across the floor. Just as everyone was wondering how this was possible, the design they were all standing on groaned, nearly tossing Baljeet off of it, and began to float upwards.
"Where's it taking us now?" Buford wondered.
Ferb caught Phineas when his brother stumbled backwards and then looked up at the diamond chandelier. The pieces of light immediately spread out, revealing a hidden vertical tunnel entrance in the ceiling. It was alit in the same light as the stone.
"The Sage's study is at the top of the tower," Ferb reminded him. "We had to have our characters ride a floating device up to it as well, remember?"
"But I do not remember it looking this complex," Baljeet added as they entered the tunnel and began climbing faster and faster.
They all looked up as the air shot passed them the faster they traveled. When Ferb looked at Phineas, he was sure to have seen sparks of wonder in his dark blue eyes. Despite the fear he still saw in them, he was content to see that his brother had not completely lost his sense of wonder.
"If this wasn't making me feel any weirder than I thought it was, I'd probably be enjoying this more," Isabella whispered fearfully.
Phineas was about to put a comforting arm around her when their ride finally came to a halt. The halt, in fact, was so sudden, it sent all five teenagers stumbling to the ground in shouts of surprise. Only the elf remained on its feet.
"Geez, could we at least have a bit of a warning?" Buford complained as he pushed Baljeet off of him.
Ignoring them, the elf rushed off towards a fire place that was presently glowing with orange flames. Here, the creature bowed to empty air. "They have arrived, Sir," he said politely. "I brought them up, just as you had instructed me to."
"Good… good," came the reply. The voice sounded distant and echoed in the air as though it was speaking in a cave.
There was a bit of a breeze that began, and right before the students' very eyes, a tall man faded into view. Sparkles of blue light swirled around him until he was completely tangible. His back was to the teenagers, but by the beautiful garments he had on, with the glowing edges, one could tell that he was a Sage.
Or at least, Phineas and Ferb were able to tell.
"Who the hey is that?" Buford whispered.
The Flynn-Fletcher brothers looked at him. "The Sage of Colornia," Phineas replied.
"How do you know?"
"Notice his clothes? How they're glowing like that at the seams? Only the wisest who have mastered good magic and philosophy are allowed to wear clothes like that. Since a Sage is the highest ranking of Good Magic Possessor in the game, this is him."
Buford, Baljeet and Isabella looked up at the man as he began to turn around. "Ah," the football player replied. "Okay."
The man finally came face-to-face with them, and they were able to recognize most of the same traits that he had in the video game; however, his dark grey eyes seemed much wiser, and his grayish-blue beard was glowing very dimly. The light it projected reflected a little off of the round spectacles he was currently wearing.
The Sage studied the newcomers in silence before his eyes fell upon Phineas. Although he had expected this, the teenager was immediately intimidated and blushed. He looked away quickly.
"So, you have finally come," the man's deep voice noted while he closed the book he had in his hand.
Phineas cleared his throat but did not look up. "N-not on my own terms, but yes," he replied meekly.
"If it had not been on your own terms, Phineas Flynn, you would not have willingly reached out and touched the Stone." The Sage let the book go and it floated down into the hands of the short elf. "That is the funny thing about curiosity; it lands you in situations your mind despises but your heart desires."
Although Phineas seemed to be attempting to ignore every word the man said, Ferb was soaking it all in; his curiosity was beginning to set off alarms in his head. As the Sage began walking towards them, Ferb took a step forward and instinctively got in front of his stepbrother, as though shielding him from a blow.
The Sage stopped at this and studied Ferb from head to toe. After a moment, he cracked a small grin. "You must be Ferb Fletcher," he said. "The stepbrother."
"How do you know that?" Ferb wondered, although he did it with a hint of dryness in his voice.
"You will come to understand that I know much, young Knight; and that most of that information is better left unanswered."
"May we have an explanation as to why we are all here?"
The Sage raised his eyebrows slightly and looked at Phineas. "You did not tell him?" he wondered.
Phineas did not look up again; instead, he seemed to relish the fact that Ferb was shielding him, and hid even more behind his brother. "I didn't want him to be a part of it," he squeaked.
"He was supposed to share it."
"… I didn't want him to have to."
The Sage did not speak at these words; he only looked at Phineas in silence.
Isabella was the next to take a step forward. "Getting back to Ferb's question, Sir," she said as politely as she could, "May you tell us what mission we've apparently been chosen for? Phineas mentioned something like that when we were teleported here…"
The Sage raised his head. "Ah, yes," he said. "The mission…" He clapped his hands twice and immediately, all the lights, including the fire, were put out, casting the entire study into darkness. Then, having no origins, blue lights began to flutter about, shaping a giant 3D map of what everyone recognized as the world of Cantoria.
The world in which the video game took place.
"You have been chosen by myself to embark on a mission of grave importance," the Sage explained. "The Dark Sorcerer is growing stronger every day, and with every passing moment, our world is crumbling. Good is being forced more and more to the East, towards us, and further away from the Labyrinth we, the Sages, were sworn to protect. The life force of Cantoria is weaning with every drop of evil added, and the more we wait and linger, the more the Dark Sorcerer is prevailing and becoming stronger.
"Many have attempted and failed to reach the Center of the Labyrinth in order to replenish its power. So I have been given the task to find the souls brave enough to take the journey and reach the Center of the Labyrinth. The Seer must reach it in order to defeat the Dark Sorcerer—!"
"Ah-HA!" Buford exclaimed, catching everyone's attention. "I knew this was the game! We were transported into the actual game!"
The Sage frowned at these words. "This may be another dimension from yours, Buford Van Stomm," he said gravely, "But I can assure you… this is no game."
His voice seemed to echo in the darkness around them, causing even Buford to cower slightly.
"I have the power of pulling people from their reality and bringing them into this one," the Sage explained. "Whatever game you are referring to, it does not exist here. This is real. This is all happening as we speak. The more time we let slip by, the more powerful the Dark Sorcerer becomes. I have searched for many years, and then I stumbled upon your dimension and found you."
"So, you've been spying on us?" Isabella clarified.
"Hardly. More or less, I have been studying your personalities and traits. And I am content to say that you all are fit for the challenge." The Sage rubbed his chin for a moment. "… A little on the young side, I'll admit, but fit nonetheless."
"So, what is it that we must do?" Baljeet wondered.
The Sage held out his arms to the map around them, and it began to move forward as though they were traveling over it like eagles. "Your task is to accompany the Seer and make sure he arrives at the Center of the Labyrinth unharmed. That is your first priority."
"So, the Seer actually exists…"
"In this realm, they do. They are incredibly scarce, considering only the purest of souls has the power to save Cantoria. In fact, only one comes from every dimension, every three hundred years of their time. Most go unnoticed, for a Seer's magic goes unnoticed everywhere save here."
Ferb rubbed his chin. "Is this the first time you have called upon a Seer?" he asked.
The Sage shook his head. "No," he replied. "I have called upon many in the past, but all have failed, only increasing the Dark Sorcerer's power. I fear that if I do not accomplish my duty correctly this time, our world will crumble for good."
Isabella looked at the others, as though silently contemplating the matter and discussing it with the boys. After a moment, she grinned and turned to face the Sage. "Well, considering we're now stuck here, I guess we've got no choice but to go along for the ride," she said boldly. "I've seen a lot of crazy things in my life, so I think I'm ready to add something unbelievable to my book."
"I'm all good, as long as I can do a bit of pounding," Buford added.
Baljeet raised his hand. "Question, Mr. Sage, Sir," he said meekly. "Um, how many lives to we have here?"
The Sage raised an eyebrow. "How many do you have in your dimension?" he asked.
"Um, just one."
"Then unless you can reincarnate yourself like a phoenix, you only have one here as well. So I would suggest you don't kill yourself by stupidity."
Baljeet swallowed with great difficulty at these words and went a little pale. "Uh, okay," he squeaked. Raising a fist in the air, he added, "Yahoo," very unenthusiastically.
"Will we be sent home once our mission is completed?" Isabella asked.
The Sage looked at her and then nodded. "If you manage to accomplish the task, then yes, I will transport you all back home." He held out his hand, and the small elf, who had gone to pick up the stone that was still in the floor, again with the cloth, handed it to him. He held it up. "You will not be forced to remain here unless you sincerely wish to."
The teenagers nodded their agreement and looked at each other before staring at the Sage. The only one who had not spoken or moved since he last spoke was Phineas. To Ferb, it seemed as though his stepbrother seemed incredibly disappointed that everyone was agreeing. It filled Ferb with more worry, but he had no time to dwell upon it, as the old man began speaking once more.
The Sage pushed up his glasses. "Now that I have your agreement, I might as well give you the roles in which you will be playing," he said. "I have assigned you each with a position that I believe best suits your personalities and characteristics; along the way, you will have a chance to learn new attacks, both offence and defence, and at certain time you will meet those who form the Seven Guides, who will personally train you. For now, I will give you your tasks, you will be given appropriate clothing, and tomorrow morning, when your journey begins, you will be given your first destination."
He pointed at Isabella. "You, my dear, are the Archer," he said. "Your courage and fierce heart will give you an advantage over your enemies, as well as your feminine touch and beauty will be needed. You will be supplied with your bow and arrows. If you are seen fit, you may be able to acquire better arrows along the way; if you can find the Golden Arrow, then you would have mastered your skills."
Isabella smiled brightly and held up her fists. "Sweet!" she exclaimed. Quickly remembering where she was, she cleared her throat and bowed politely. "I mean, I will do my best, Sir."
The Sage pointed at Baljeet next. "You have been appointed the Rope Maker," he announced.
Buford immediately had to stifle a laugh. Baljeet moaned. "Aaawwwww, are you serious?" he said in despair. "But I cannot stand being a Rope Maker! They do not do anything heroic!"
"Heroism comes in all shapes and sizes, Baljeet," the Sage replied. "And your skills at making ropes will be needed on this journey, as you will not only be traveling across fields and plains." As Baljeet pouted and crossed his arms, the old man pointed at Buford. "You, will be—!"
"Lemme guess!" Buford said excitedly while flexing his arm muscles. "A Knight, right? Cause I've got the strength!"
The Sage rolled his eyes. "You may have the strength, but you do not possess the knowledge or loyalty of a Knight," he said flatly. "That role has been reserved for another. You are more fitting as a Ranger. It is your job to be a look out, as well as an extra aid in battle. Because of your strength, you can raise heavy weaponry."
While Baljeet and Isabella giggled behind their hands, Buford made a grimace and then shrugged. "Meh, I guess that's alright," he muttered. "Better than a dorky Squire or Scout."
"Your roles have each equal importance, so do not underestimate yourselves or your teammates," the Sage warned. He looked at Ferb, but before saying anything, he frowned softly. "You were initially reserved another role, but since you lack a certain trait, I had to reassign you to one that was just as fitting." He pointed at the teenager and a sea of green and blue lights faded into view, swirling around Ferb's body and forming a transparent suit that resembled a Knight's.
"You, Ferb Fletcher, have been assigned as the Knight," the Sage announced. "Because of your intelligence, skills, courage and ability to quickly construct and think plans through, you have been given this role. Many battles will await you, and you will often be forced to fight them head on without thinking. If you fail your task as the protector of the Brotherhood, then everyone will perish. It is the Knight who must protect the Seer at all costs."
Ferb looked at the fake armour around him before it disappeared, and then looked up at the Sage.
"Do you accept this role, despite it carrying a heavier load on your shoulders than the others?"
Although Ferb would rather spend his time reading a book than swinging a sword, the teenager nodded firmly. The Sage nodded as well before walking off a few steps. The study returned to normal and the map disappeared. The fire was rekindled.
The teenagers waited patiently to hear more.
"You are free to go now," the Sage said. "Edwin here, will show you to your chambers to get dressed, and then you are all invited to dine downstairs. You must all be famished by now…"
"W-wait a minute," Isabella spoke up. She pointed at her best friend. "You didn't give Phineas his role."
At these words, the Sage raised his head and turned around again. Surprise was in his eyes.
"I mean, considering he's the one who found your teleporter, shouldn't he be getting a role too?"
The old man looked at her in silence before turning his gaze on the red-headed sixteen-year-old. "You never told them?" he asked.
Phineas stared at him in silence before looking away again. Weakly, he shook his head.
The Sage did not seem incredibly pleased to hear this, but he did not show his disappointment for long. "I suppose I should appoint one to him then," he muttered, more or less to himself. "Or, more specifically, tell you what it is, considering he has not told you yet."
"Does he get to be a Mage?" Baljeet asked eagerly. "He plays that role all the time in the game at home. He is incredibly skilled!"
"Mages do not normally embark on such adventures; they stay and study magic in order to become Sages one day… or Warlocks, if they decide to use their knowledge for evil." The Sage shook his head. "No; you will have no need of spellbinding on your quest. Only the courage within your hearts and the ability to work together as a team."
"Then, if we will have no Mage, what will Phineas play as?"
The Sage waited a moment before looking at Phineas. Phineas raised his head again and looked up at him in silence. The man could see the reluctance and fear in his eyes, but the choice had been decided; there was no turning back. So he held up the stone, and it immediately began to hum and shine brightly.
Phineas gasped softly and fixed his gaze upon the stone. As though in a trance, he held out both hands. The Sage let the stone go and it began to float in midair as rays of blue, pink and purple light swam out of it and haloed around the sixteen-year-old.
Ferb almost felt obliged to step out and pull his brother away; he had no idea what was happening, but he did not like what it looked like, especially after the light cast from the stone surrounded Phineas. Ferb even noticed that his brother's blue eyes seemed to begin to glow as though being filled with the same light that was currently haloing him.
The scene continued to develop until the stone had landed softly in Phineas' hands. Then, the lights faded away, the stone dimmed, and Phineas' eyes returned to normal. By the look of ever growing fear in his face, Ferb could tell that Phineas was not pleased with the role he had apparently been appointed. In hopes of clarification, Ferb, Isabella, Baljeet and Buford looked up at the Sage.
The Sage raised his head as he continued to stare at Phineas. "He is the Seer," he whispered solemnly.
"Phineas is the Seer?"
It had been nearly half an hour since Edwin the Light Elf had taken the sixteen-year-olds into the giant chamber where they would spend the night. Like most of the tower, the walls were paved in gold and red paint, and there were three king size beds aligned against the wall. Three windows overlooked the city below.
Buford was sitting on a chair next to one of the windows, balancing on its back legs while folding his arms behind his head. He yawned loudly. "I told him he'd make a good Seer," he muttered, responding to Isabella's exclamation. He had been the first to get dressed once the elf had returned with their new uniforms. He was dressed in a mail tunic, complete with thick brown leather padding over his chest, shoulders, thighs and knees. He had also been given fingerless gloves crested in gold, along with matching boots and a green cloak. He was not expected to wear it to sleep, but was obliged to wear it to the banquet that evening.
Buford had also been given a special axe to carry on the journey. To anyone else, it weighed a ton; but because he did several weights every day and played football, he was able to lift it without hardly a sweat.
"Did you see the look on Ferb's face when we were told?" Isabella added. "He looked like he had just seen a ghost or something."
Buford shrugged his shoulders. "So he did," he said with a yawn. "Though if you ask me, it looked more like he had just seen his bro get murdered in front of him."
"Buford, that was really inappropriate."
"But true. He seriously looked freaked, Man."
Baljeet was sitting on one of the beds, fumbling around with his own uniform. He kicked a leg in the air while groaning. "Ugh! Why do Rope Makers have to dress up in such baggy clothes?" he complained. "I look like a monk!"
"Because monks were often Rope Makers, Nerd," Buford snickered, watching his friend attempt to straighten his dark red hood. Baljeet's uniform consisted of a loose sweater-like shirt, matching pants and matching boots that were fastened to his legs by laces. Had he had the hood over his head at the moment, he would have looked exactly like a monk.
He had also been given a few tools for the journey: some rope making utensils—which included a small dagger—and a light sword in case he was called into battle.
Buford got a kick out of that. "I can't believe Mortimer the Sage gave you a stupid sword," he teased. "I bet you can't even lift it."
"Can so!" Baljeet sniffed. "Besides; he only said it was in case of an emergency, so it isn't really supposed to be a good one."
"Fine, whatever. Just make sure to warn me if you swing it."
Isabella, who had hidden herself in behind a giant changing board while she stripped her wet clothes and put on her new set of garments, tossed out her shoes and grabbed a pair of green leather boots sitting just in view of the boys. "Let's just hope we won't need to fight that often," she said. "Considering we've played this game a lot, though, I'm sure we'd do just fine anyway."
"Knock on wood, knock on wooooddd!!!" Buford exclaimed as he and Baljeet rapped their knuckles against either a desk or the bed frame. "You're gonna jinx us, Isabella!"
"Oh please; are you seriously that superstitious?"
"After hanging out with Phineas and Ferb? Heck yeah. Especially Phineas. Every time Dinner Bell says something like that, something ends up going wrong. Like when we traveled around the world in one day. Seriously, that kid doesn't knock on wood enough."
"Phineas isn't superstitious, that's why."
Baljeet leaned on top of the sword he had been given. "Where are Phineas and Ferb, anyway?" he wondered.
Isabella tossed out the rest of her clothes and then walked out from behind the boards while pushing back her long black hair. "They had to go get their uniforms with Edwin, remember?" she said. "Ferb had to go to the armoury, apparently, and Phineas… well, they never said where he had to go."
"The Seer stuff is top secret here," Buford noted. "They really take this whole thing seriously."
Isabella picked up the blue and silver bow she was given and held it over her shoulder while leaning on one leg. "So; how do I look?" she asked while grinning. Like Buford, Isabella was wearing a mail shirt. Along with her green boots, she sported a dark red skirt, a leather belt with a red ruby on the buckle, a green cloak and green and brown sleeves. If it was any other girl, Buford would have laughed; but because it was Isabella, the matter was different. Since her main group of friends consisted of boys, the Jewish-Mexican girl fit this tomboy-like outfit perfectly.
Дата добавления: 2015-09-30; просмотров: 24 | Нарушение авторских прав
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