The Seer Bk 3 Pt 1 chp25

Ferb looked this way and that, searching for any place he thought would be perfect to put a Seer. He turned sharp corners around boulders and trees, nearly slipping once or twice, and dodged the few nymphs that were still awake and walking about. His heart was beating madly in his ears, which alerted him that he was more desperate to find his brother than he had thought he was.

If they won't tell me what's wrong with Phineas, then I'll just have to find out for myself, Ferb thought.

Behind him, he could hear Isabella shouting at him, ordering him to stop. He knew that she undoubtedly knew it was going to be done all in vain—even chasing after the Knight in order to catch up to him and stop him would be for naught; not only was Ferb an incredibly swift runner, but there was no way he would stop.

Not until he found Phineas.

He remembered Mishah saying that she would take him to the Healing House up the hill, just outside her private garden. Ferb eventually reached a small hill and climbed it, but when he arrived at the top, there was no sign of any type of housing. There was a garden yes, one of the most beautiful he had ever seen in his life; and there was a palace of some sort peeking between blue blossom trees. But Ferb had no time to soak in the details. He would do so tomorrow. Right now, he had to find his brother.

Healing House, Healing House, Healing House, he thought to himself while searching the area. When he scanned the ground twice, he remembered that many of the dwellings in Twilight Lagoon were high above ground, in the trees. Without hesitating to wonder about this, Ferb turned his head upward.

Sure enough, up on a large tree—most of it built into the forest giant—was a magnificent building that seemed to be built out of giant flower petals and crystals. There were no doors but there was a wide opening that led into the tree-building. The petals shaped the roof of the building; the outer walls seemed to have been carved out of blue crystal, which glowed very softly. The rest of the building had been built into the tree trunk, and so there was not any more detail than that.

Ferb searched frantically for a way to climb the tree. His eyes almost instantly fell upon the spiralling staircase that twisted around the limb of the same tree. The Healing House was built into the trunk of the tree, but the branch on which its wide balcony stood turned to the side before dipping down and reaching the forest floor. Ferb had never seen a tree with such a branch as this, but the reason of it being so was not on his mind. The one detail that caught his attention was, as was mentioned, the spiralling leaf-like staircase that ascended that limb. Soft white lights lit the way in case anyone wished to climb it at night.

But the only way to the stairs was by going through the garden; and immediately knowing that this was undoubtedly the garden Queen Mishah had referred to as being hers, then this place was obviously sacred, or else reserved to none other than Her Majesty herself.

After but a brief hesitation, Ferb decided to set that matter aside and immediately dashed into the garden without permission. Isabella had just caught up to him from climbing the hill when he ran off again, which only made her groan in frustration and take chase once more.

Ferb ran into several Archer nymphs, much like those they had met before in the forest. They shouted in surprise.

"Oi! Who let the human in the queen's garden?" one exclaimed.

"You're not allowed in here! No mortal is!" another said.

But Ferb ignored them all. He even violently pushed one back when it attempted to grab him.

Upon reaching the stairs, he climbed them in doubles. His legs were long enough for that. Holding onto the vine-like railing, he ascended, Isabella now only a few steps behind. It took perhaps three minutes to five minutes to climb the entire branch. Reaching the top, Ferb immediately sprinted for the glowing Healing House and rushed passed the pillars holding the entrance up and ran into the entrance. He passed a corridor that undoubtedly led into different parts of the tree trunk building—like the stairs, they were alit by soft white lights, even a few blues ones here and there.

But there was a large opening at the end of the corridor he was currently running in, and he had the feeling that it was in this room, undoubtedly the largest, that his brother was in.

Ferb dashed in as quickly as he could before coming to a stop and looking about. Like the entrance, the walls were smooth and glowing blue; even the floor gave off a bit of light. At the opposite end of the hall was a wide opening that led out to another balcony—Ferb did not want to wonder yet what part of Twilight Lagoon it looked over. The entire room was empty, save the small orbs of light that floated high above their heads, and the table that was sitting almost in the center of the entire room.

On it, now stripped of the dark robe, was the Seer.

Ferb gasped and dashed over, quickly followed by Isabella. "Phineas!" he exclaimed, his voice echoing very weakly in the wide and empty space.

There was someone else present there; it had been, in fact, ducking down to look at something beneath the table when Ferb exclaimed. When it raised its head, it was revealed that the creature was in fact, a Satyr. Its face was thin and seemed to be aging—the cheekbones were beginning to show and there were lines of age beneath its dark brown eyes. Its nose was pointed and a little long, just as the goatee on his chin was as well. Its ears were those of a goat, sticking out at the sides of the creature's head. It also had its brown and grey hair tied back in a thin ponytail.

"Hey!" the Satyr exclaimed as Ferb rushed over. An irritated frown crossed over the creature's face as it walked into full view. "What are you doing here? No mortal is aloud in those gardens, Kid! Get the heck out of this place!"

It did not have an English accent like most of the creatures the teenagers had met did. And when it walked into view, the Satyr was holding up a stick that was undoubtedly used to allow it to walk about. The bottom half of its body was that of a goat, complete with a small tail and two hoof-like feet. It limped into sight while leaning on the cane, fussing angrily about the arrival of the Knight and the Archer.

Ferb pretended not to be irritated by him in the least, and only continued to rush over to the table where his brother was lying. Isabella ran right behind him.

"Don't touch him! Get back, you stupid Squire!" the Satyr snapped while raising its cane and waving it before him, keeping Ferb from reaching out for Phineas. "Back, I say! Shoo! Get out of here, you pest!"

Ferb frowned in reply before reaching out for Phineas again. But the Satyr growled and hit his hand with the end of his cane. The teenager groaned painfully and pulling his hand back while rubbing it, just as Isabella stopped nearby.

"I said shoo!" the creature repeated. It's long, pointed goat ears wiggled. "No mortals are allowed here, now go, dumb human!"

"I want to know what's wrong with him," Ferb said, still rubbing his sore hand.

"Shooooo!"

"Not until I get some answers. I haven't been updated for nearly five hours! Tell me what's wrong with him!"

The Satyr growled again. "Go away!" he snapped.

"No!" Ferb snapped back.

"Yes!"

"Make me! Tell me what's wrong with him now!"

Isabella grabbed Ferb's arm. "Ferb, please, we should get out of here if we're not allowed," she insisted while pulling on him.

Ferb slipped his arm out of her grasp and clenched his teeth. "I'm not leaving until I get some answers!" he yelled. "Tell me what's wrong with him now!"

"I said shoo!" the creature repeated. "I am trying to do my job as a Healer here! I don't need more kids bursting in! Go away!"

Ferb bared his teeth and crossed his arms before stubbornly shaking his head. Isabella sighed in exasperation and placed a hand over her forehead. The Satyr pointed at him with his walking stick. "If you don't get out of here now," he warned, "I will—!"

"Peace, Harith; they have my permission to stay."

The Satyr stopped in his words with the female voice spoke. He immediately lowered his cane and bowed. Ferb and Isabella turned their heads. Walking towards them, just as gracefully as when she had first introduced herself to them, was Queen Mishah. The blue dress she was still wearing seemed to glow dimly, like the walls in the Healing House. Her steps were silent, even on hard flooring. "They have arrived, and so let them stay," she said very calmly.

"But Your Majesty, they have set foot in your garden," the Satyr replied as he straightened out and pointed his cane at the Knight and Archer. "And they have interrupted me in my work!"

Mishah stared at him in silence before turning her eyes and setting them upon Ferb. Isabella blushed with embarrassment; Ferb, however, only frowned back. "You said, 'in an hour or two,'" he recalled. "I've been waiting over four."

The nymph seemed amused by the answer. She smiled a little. "And you set foot in my royal garden, hm?" she asked.

"I saw no sign saying that I could not. Besides; the last time I looked, nymphs and satyrs were not gods, therefore they cannot possibly be mortals either."

"Good observation, Ferb," Mishah replied; "But in this realm, we are immortal, lest someone decides to slay us."

Ferb found nothing to say.

"The only races in Cantoria that are not immortal are the Dwarves and Humans…" Mishah laughed softly. "Which, I presume, you are, am I right?"

Ferb looked on silently before finally his cheeks turned red with embarrassment and shame. He stared at his feet. "Forgive me, Your Majesty, I… did not mean to break a rule, if I have…"

"You have not, although you should ask permission the next time you attempt to do so," Mishah reassured him.

"I simply… wanted to know what was wrong… with Phineas—!"

The satyr harrumphed. "Humph! I hardly had the chance to examine him with all the other creatures in this realm flying or climbing over to visit him," he complained. "And you two buggers coming in don't make the healing any faster!"

"Harith," Mishah said crossly. It was the first frown Ferb had seen on her face, and even though it was not a large one, it was certainly stern. When all the satyr did was wave a hand in the air and walked back to where he had been before, the nymph looked at Ferb and Isabella and smiled again. "This is Harith; he is our Healer, here in Twilight Lagoon. He knows of all remedies, herbs and medicines in Cantoria. He can tell different illnesses from each other better than any other Healer or doctor in this world can."

Ferb and Isabella looked at her for a moment before turning their eyes and staring at their friend on the table. Phineas still looked as white as he had before, and the blue glow from around them made him look even more ill than he possibly was. Although he seemed to be a little more relaxed, there were still signs of pain on his face.

"Which… which illness does Phineas have?" Isabella asked, looking up at the queen again. "Ferb suspected that it could be poison… is he right?"

Mishah stared at her in silence with her ice blue eyes before looking at the Healer. "I was returning for that reason myself," she replied.

Harith leaned down to grab something around the table again before straightening out. "He's an odd and unbelievable case, that's what he is," he muttered. "Symptoms are growing graver by the second; I'm surprised he hasn't actually kicked the bucket yet."

Those words did not comfort Ferb and Isabella by the least. Their eyes filled with great concern before they looked at their friend again.

"He's too young to be a Seer, and he's too young to have even been able to last longer than twenty-four hours," the Satyr continued as though he had not noticed their horrified stares. He looked at Ferb and pointed at him while holding up a small bottle with glowing substance in it. "I suppose you like to read, Boy?" he asked.

Ferb blinked and then shrugged in reply.

"Because you obviously recognized the symptoms if you guessed poisoning."

"Does… does that mean that it is?" Isabella asked meekly.

Harith looked at her. Although his dark eyes softened a bit, his frown remained stern. "Yes," he replied. "Yes, your Seer's been poisoned."

Isabella covered her mouth before sharing a horrified look with Ferb again. Mishah, remaining calm, looked at the teenager lying on the table. "How grave is it, then?" she asked seriously.

"I can't be sure," her Healer replied. "I don't know how long it's been since he got the poison injected. All I know is that it's been over twenty-four hours, which makes no sense; he should be dead by now. But his heart is still beating, his lungs are still functioning—for the most part—and he still responds to any pain if it's given from his chest up. Anything lower, though, he's completely paralyzed."

"What type of poison are we speaking of?"

"The worst of the worst, Your Majesty; Black Void."

The name caught Ferb and Isabella's attention. "What is… Black Void?" Ferb asked uncertainly.

Harith looked at him before limping over to the side of the table where the Knight and Archer were standing. "Black Void is a Dark Magic poison," he explained. "Warlocks and Watchers are able to inject it into their prey by means of sharp weapons. That's why hardly any Knights nowadays venture further than the Eastern Border. Them goons of the Dark Sorcerer have gotten smarter and stronger. They can kill anything with that poison."

He stopped by Phineas' head and raised his cane in order to gently grab the chain that held the Seer Stone. He moved it over without touching the object until the Stone slid off of the boy's shoulder and landed gently on the table beside him. "Black Void is a fatal poison," Harith continued. "Anyone who is injected by it must at all costs find a Healer before the day is up; none have survived longer than twenty-four hours…" He looked at Ferb and pointed his cane at him. "Tell me, Boy; was Phineas ever cut by a black blade? By either a Warlock or a Watcher?"

Ferb and Isabella stared at him in silence before the Knight rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He went over the events since they had left Lake Town, but found nothing that could relate to his brother being cut by a blade, other than the Warlock sinking its claws into his arm. Phineas had never been…

A flash of a distant memory suddenly caused Ferb to raise his eyebrows and look at the Satyr in revelation. "Wait a minute," he muttered. Looking at Isabella, he added, "When we were at Eagle's Gorge, nearly seven days ago, granted we don't count our trek through the Frost Range…"

Isabella gasped and widened her eyes. "That's right!" she said. She looked at the queen and made gestured with her hand while speaking: "When we were trying to cross Eagle's Gorge in the Floating Forest, we were attacked, and Phineas was cut across the chest by a Warlock and its black sword of some sort…"

Mishah raised her eyebrows yet her expression remained collected. Harith, on the other hand, mumbled something inaudible, catching their attention. When the teenagers looked at him, he was already busy undoing Phineas' shirt. "Then I supposed that would explain this," he said, pulling the shirt apart and revealing the boy's chest.

Ferb and Isabella leaned over to see; what met their gazes caused Ferb's eyes to fill with sheer terror and made Isabella recoiled and gasp loudly while covering her mouth:

The wound that Phineas had acquired on Eagle's Gorge was still present; but it now looked ten times as horrid as it had before. Black veins stretched across Phineas' chest, beginning at the long clean cut, and spread out like black ink towards other parts of his body. The cut itself was swollen and seemed to be opening up again, this time as though the skin around it had been like burnt paper.

"Oh, my God!" Isabella exclaimed in fright. She shook her head and immediately hid her eyes in Ferb's black tunic.

"It didn't look like that a few days ago!" Ferb added in complete shock.

Harith scoffed. "Of course it didn't; it gets worse as time goes by, Dimwit," he scolded the Knight. The Healer turned its eyes upon the Seer again. "Symptoms of Black Void include fever, increasing difficulty to breathe, light headedness, failing of the senses, and also numbness until paralyzed. It attacks the nervous system, which becomes deadly if a Healer is not called upon within twenty-four hours. That would explain why your Seer can't move anything from his shoulders down; the poison has gotten strong enough to shut everything down, save his heart. Thank the Heavens that's still working."

"I… I…" Ferb fought to hold back tears, but it became more and more difficult to do so whenever he lay his eyes upon his brother's wound. Covering his mouth, he said through the lump in his throat, "I don't understand… Why didn't he tell us?"

"He may not have known that he had it, considering how long he's been walking around Cantoria with that in his system," Harith replied. He looked at Queen Mishah. "That's the part that still baffles me; he should have been dead upon arrival to Lake Town; it makes no sense that he could have survived this long, a whole extra week, according to those two, with that poison in his body. For all I know, Cantoria should be at the mercy of the Dark Sorcerer already!"

Mishah rubbed her chin thoughtfully while staring at the boy on the table. "This is grave indeed," she said quietly.

"If he really is meant to save the world, then there's some unexplainable force that's keeping him alive. Must be worth the wait if we had to wait a quarter of a century for another Seer."

Mishah looked at him for a moment before staring at the Seer once more. "Have you commenced the healing process?" she asked. "It is essential that we begin immediately, if we are to save him."

"I have, Your Majesty," Harith replied with a nod. "Though I couldn't be sure how long it's been in him until now, he should be in Midnight State by within a few hours—!"

"Wait a moment!" Ferb interrupted. A worried frown fell over his brow as he looked from the queen to the Healer. "What does that mean?"

"My, my, aren't we hasty?" Harith said sourly.

Mishah ignored him and held up her hands. "Midnight State is a state of suspended animation, Ferb," she explained. "We use it when serious healing must take place. Phineas is at a critical stage in the poisoning, and so we must… well, freeze time within him in order to keep the poison from spreading."

"How long will that take?"

"Considering his condition… I would say a day, if not longer."

Ferb's eyes filled with dismay. "A day?" he said. "You mean I must sit around fretting for him for another twenty-four hours?"

"We aren't asking you to fret, Kid," the Satyr grumped. "You're doing it on your own."

Ferb shot him a dirty glare before looking at the Queen again. "Can't you make it any faster?" he begged.

Queen Mishah looked at him with gentle eyes. "We cannot speed a healing process, Ferb," she explained. "Phineas is already balancing on the edge of a knife. You arrived here in the nick of time; had you gotten here any later, then he would have been beyond our reach."

Ferb's shoulders dropped as Isabella lay a hand on his arm.

"Considering his importance to Cantoria, as well as to you, no doubt, we must make sure that every drop of Black Void is drained from his body. It is a serious poison, and in a Seer it could mean the end of our world. We must at all costs clean out his entire body of it, and the only way we can properly do so with this much poison in him is within a day. We cannot make it shorter, lest we wish to leave a drop behind."

Ferb stared at her in disappointment before looking down at his feet. Isabella placed her hands together. "If the poison was meant to kill him, then why did the Warlock cut him?" she asked.

Harith sighed. "To weaken him and take him back to the Dark Sorcerer," he replied softly. "He's got enough power to heal him as well, but you don't wanna know what he'll do with Phineas after that. Doom to us all, that's what will happen."

"Your healing methods must be incredibly vital to Cantoria if they can stop a Warlock's poison," Isabella noted. When Harith nodded in reply, the girl continued: "Are you the only ones who can stop it?" Once the Healer had nodded again, Isabella looked at Mishah. "Is that the reason why the Warlock and Snitch we met on the road earlier said that you were as powerful as you are beautiful?"

Mishah cracked a small grin at this. "I suppose," she replied. "Healing isn't completely of my doing; I help in certain stages, in revitalizing the soul and heart. I also train the Seer, and I have also been trained in combat, but I only use those methods when time sees fit." She held up her hands. "There are only two locations in all of Cantoria that the Leaders of those lands have placed a shield over it for protection, given their importance: the Lake Island where Lake Town is Located in the Floating Forest, and—!"

"—Twilight Lagoon," Ferb finished, having raised his head upon hearing this explanation. His eyes filled with revelation as he stared at the queen in awe. "You… are the Seventh Guide, aren't you?"

Mishah put down her hands and smiled. Slowly, she nodded her head.

"You and… the Wizard Xavier… are the most… powerful?"

"Nay," Mishah disagreed. "Dragon Lord Volcar is the most powerful Guide, which is why he is in charge of training the Brotherhood in strength and stealth. Xavier and I are the most essential, however. Which is why we are the only two with shields. He trains the Knight and prepares the Seer for the journey ahead; and I conclude the Seer's training." She reached out and placed a hand on Ferb's shoulder. "However, that information can be given at a later date. You need rest, Ferb; as I have said before, I can see it in your eyes. You must be incredibly close to Phineas if you have sacrificed your own health to keep an eye on him."

Ferb looked at Isabella for a moment, hesitating in telling the Queen that he was Phineas' brother. Looking at the nymph again, he said, very softly: "… He's my best friend."

Mishah smiled warmly. "Then he has a very trustworthy companion that watches over him," she said. She pulled her hand away from the Knight. "Now you must rest; the moon is high, the forest has fallen asleep. So must you…"

Ferb hesitated again. "… I want to stay," he said.

"No," both Isabella and Harith replied in unison.

Ferb looked at them before looking at the queen. "Please allow me to stay with him," he begged.

Mishah looked at him with compassion in her eyes. "Phineas will be safe here, Ferb," she replied. "You need to return to your shelter and rest."

"But I—!"

"You can return tomorrow after breakfast, with your companions, if you wish to see him and how the Healing process is going. But tonight, you return with Isabella and rest."

Ferb opened his mouth to speak again until a hand gently touched his shoulder. When he turned his head, Isabella stared back at him with concerned eyes. Despite her deep feelings for Phineas, Isabella still considered Ferb to be her best friend as well and worried just as much for him. Her dark blue irises begged him to come back and seek rest.

Ferb stared at her for a moment longer before sighing in defeat. Looking at his stepbrother once more, he finally turned around and walked towards the exit. Isabella bowed politely to the queen before imitating her friend and following him out. Ferb only attempted once more to look over his shoulder in order to see Phineas again. But by the time he had turned his head, the hall had disappeared around the corner, and he was outside once more.

They returned to the shelter in silence, finding that both Buford and Baljeet had already settled down for the night and were wrapped in blankets the nymphs had left for them. Isabella doused the small fire and gave some blankets to Ferb before settling down as well. It took Ferb several minutes before finally, his eyes became too heavy with sleep to stay open and fret about his brother. He would be able to visit Phineas in the morning.

In the meantime, Ferb slept as dreams danced in his mind.

*****