Beiträge von Sheyffer

Tonight was the night the world would change. No, he corrected himself. Tonight was the night he would change the world.
He strode through the halls of Firestone Castle with long, confident steps, but made no sound. He knew what he was looking for - who he was looking for - and where. His carefully selected spies had told him. He knew the guards’ schedules, he knew they wouldn’t be in this part of the castle. The smirk on his face widened to a grin. Not tonight, anyway.
He hadn’t even placed a hand on his sword’s handle, that’s how certain he was of his plan working out. It had up to now, it’d continue to. He would make it happen, and nobody would stop him. The next few minutes would change everything.
It wasn’t even his sword. It was his brother’s - Robert’s. On any other day or night, the mere thought of his existence would drive him mad. Make him want to travel all the way back to his hometown in a kingdom far far away just to kill him in his sleep. But he knew that wouldn’t do him any good.
No, this was a far better plan. And this wasn’t any other night. Tonight, he would take his first step in showing his brother, his parents, the world that he was tired of being in his brother’s shadow. It was always the oh-so-perfect Robert Doonkleberg who got the fame and glory. The knight in shining armor who had single-handedly defeated the mystical hirschhorn, a beast with a stag’s antler and a bull’s horn, and gifted its head to their father. He was the younger brother, yes, but he was also the handsome one. The one the people looked up to and loved.
Compared to him, Hans was hideous. Useless. And he was always compared to him. He wasn’t bad at swordfighting, he wasn’t bad at hunting, he wasn’t bad at reciting all the kings and queens in the world. He just wasn’t as good as Robert.
But one thing he knew: he was more creative. He could come up with the most convoluted plans to get what he wanted, and it’d work out. He was the one who’d devised the hirschhorn’s trap, who read the hunting trails for Robert to follow. But did anyone care? Of course not. Nobody thanked him, not even his brother. Especially not his brother. Even though Robert was well aware that his success had fully depended on him.
Leaving the country - with Robert's sword, too - would expose his brother to the truth. But that wasn't enough. No, Hans would show them all what he was capable of. Tonight. Now.
The room wasn't locked. Not that he was surprised, but at least he was able to rely on his spies. Not many could say that. He lit a few lamps, not that it mattered. Nobody was here to stop him, apart from the man he was waiting for.
And then he saw it. The cradle he'd been meaning to find. In it, a boy, not older than two years, and already a perfect likeness of his father, the king. The second Hans touched him, however, the boy woke up, staring at him for a short moment before he started to cry.
Hans left him lying there for the time being. As much at the boy's cries broke his heart - he had a daughter, and as bad as their relationship was now, it hadn't always been - he needed them for his plan. He needed the boy, Finn, to cry, the louder the better. Only his father would come to save him now. His father, the king.
He heard footsteps outside, rushed as if running, and he laughed as the man appeared in the door. Apparently, the king would die in his nightwear and still half asleep.
He did have a sword, but that wasn't going to help him. He looked more worried than angry. This was going to be easy.
“Who are you?”, the king asked over his son’s cries. “Step away from my son.”
Hans did as told, placing a hand on his brother's sword. “My name is Hans Doonkleberg”, he grinned. “The last face you'll ever see.”
“We don't have to fight. Tell me what you want, money, land, anything. We can solve this without violence.”
“Oh, but I want your death. That's why I'm here. So unless you do me the favor of jumping out the window…”
He could feel the king’s fear. Hans was the one in charge of the conversation, and the king was all too well aware.
“I'm not scared of fighting you.” They both knew he was lying. “But whatever happens… even if you win.” When I win, you mean. “You aren't going to hurt my son. Promise me that you won't.”
Hans nodded. He was a little evil, perhaps, but he wasn't a monster. “I’m not here to hurt him”, he said truthfully. “I promise no harm will come to him.”
The king was visibly relieved. “Let's get this over with, then.”
Hans didn't let him finish. He drew his brother's sword and attacked immediately. The king blocked his move, but only narrowly. After that, though, he wasn't half as bad as Hans had thought he would be. He cackled, covering up the sudden realization that he might lose this fight after all. He needed a miracle.
It came.
It was the scream of a young girl that distracted the two of them for a moment. The king stared at her - at his daughter, Hans knew - and his eyes urged her to leave. But there she stood, eyes wide open in horror, and Hans knew that he should take his chance. Now or never.
“Long live the king”, he grinned as he pierced the king right through the heart, and drew his sword from the body to accelerate the bleeding. The king sank to his knees, then hit the floor with the rest of his body, the blood beginning to cover the ground beneath and around him.
The girl screamed again, tears in her eyes, and Hans tried to suppress the realization that he had just killed a little girl’s father right in front of her.
“Go!”, he snarled, and she immediately followed the order. He stared at the now lifeless face of the king, and he felt… guilt? No, it couldn’t be. He was a bad king, he told himself, knowing that this was all but true. I did everyone a favor by killing him.
His gaze shifted to Finn who had turned silent again - was he scared? Of him? Not that he could blame him, but still... Hans walked over to the boy and picked him up, this tiny human being that continued staring at him with wide, scared eyes but didn’t move.
“Don’t hate me”, he whispered, fighting his own emotions. “Please don’t. This had to happen. You’ll see why.” He made his way back to the hidden tunnel he’d come from, terribly glad Finn still kept silent. He’d raise the boy now. Finn had a right to the throne, and if he was loyal to him by the time he was an adult… as his advisor, it’d be Hans to rule the kingdom.
And then, of course, there was his ex-wife who had insisted on taking their daughter with her when she’d left. He missed his little girl - and if he couldn’t have her, he could at least be a father to this boy.
He had a promise to keep.

---

“Good morning, master!”
“Good morning, Finn.” Hans smiled down at the boy. He was six years old now, and everything had gone according to plan. He hadn’t hurt him, not once, and in spite of his cheerful and curious attitude, Finn had never disobeyed him, aside from some minor setbacks. He looked up to him, Hans knew, and he himself had not regretted a single moment of the past four years.
“Can we go outside?” Finn asked, and Hans shook his head, just like all the other times the boy had asked for the very same thing.
“The other people can’t know you’re still alive”, he said. “Not yet. But one day, we’ll get out of hiding, don’t worry about that.” Soon, I hope. He rose from his seat.
“You’re going to visit our guests, right?”
He raised a brow. “Why do you ask?”
Finn went silent for a moment. “You said their latest invention would be done soon. I was hoping that you’d show me.” He bowed his head. “Master.”
How could he turn down that request? It couldn’t hurt to have Finn know what it was capable of. “Come, then.”
The boy knew the way to the caves they kept their ‘guests’ in - they were, of course, prisoners, but Finn was too young to know or care. For him, the bars they were stuck behind were nothing more than a replacement for the rooms he couldn’t provide, Hans supposed.
“Good morning”, he greeted one of them upon entering a particular cave. He only had two prisoners, but he couldn’t risk them talking to each other apart from the things he sent Finn to deliver between them. Only now did he notice in what a good mood he really was - in Finn’s presence, it was hard not to be. “How’s the project, Josh?”
“Finished”, the man replied, holding up a small, altogether unspectacular stone. Hans didn’t miss his side glance at Finn, but paid no mind. “Of course, we haven’t tested it yet, so we can’t say whether it works for sure, but…”
“No but.” Hans shook his head, snatching the stone from the other man’s hand. “How can I… unleash it to the world if I can’t be certain about its workings?”
“Then test it”, Josh said. “Just let us leave. We did everything you wanted.”
“Not yet”, Hans replied absent-mindedly. He couldn’t test it on his prisoners, he needed them. He couldn’t kidnap a stranger, it was too risky.
“Master?”, he heard Finn ask.
Still pondering, he replied: “What is it?”
“Can I do it?”
Hans froze. Of course not, he wanted to say. “You don’t know what we’re talking about. And it’s far too dangerous for someone like you.”
“But I want to help you!”, Finn insisted. “You want me to rule one day. I’ll be king. I need to be brave.”
Hans glanced over to Josh, and found that the man carried the same expression as the king so many years ago. Utter panic.
He didn’t feel so certain either. Who knew what would happen… and yet, they had nobody else, and if even Finn himself wanted to do it…
“Alright”, he said, clutching the stone tightly. Resting his gaze on Finn.
And the boy screamed.
It wasn’t a scream of fear like four years ago. It was a scream of pain.
Hans felt his hand grasping the stone so tightly that his nails dug back into his palm as he watched Finn’s body transform. The boy’s clothes were ripped apart as his shape shifted; his fingers and toes became claws as he fell to his knees, but even the arms that were now front legs couldn’t support him as he shook and cried out his pain. These cries soon transitioned into howls as his head took the shape of a wolf’s, and black fur spread all across his body.
Then, all at once, his howls, too, died away, and what once was Finn sunk powerless to the ground.
Hans’s thoughts raced, a chaotic loop of What have I done? and It actually worked!. The stone really did give him the power to turn people into canine beasts. “Excellent work”, he said to Josh, but quickly noticed that the man was shaking just like Finn earlier, staring at what he had created without giving a single hint that he had heard Hans in the first place.
“This shouldn’t be”, was all Josh mumbled. “This… this darkling…”
“Darkling”, Hans repeated. He could get used to that term. But he quickly focused back on Finn, it was time to prove that the process worked the other way around as well.
He sighed in relief when it did reverse the transformation, the claws and fur disappearing until Finn, the human Finn, was lying naked on the ground before him. But he knew something was terribly wrong: this time, Finn hadn’t made a single sound.
Hans ran over to the boy, taking off his cloak. Finn seemed so fragile now, so small… and he really needed the cloak before Hans could get him something new to wear. “I’m here now”, he whispered. “You were brave, okay? You did great.”
As he attempted to wrap the cloak around him, Finn opened his eyes. But they weren’t the eyes of a boy who’d just done something remarkable and was now proud of his achievement. They were the eyes of a boy who was utterly terrified, a boy who scrambled away from the stone as fast as his weakened limbs could carry him. Away from Hans.
He wanted to yell at himself for what he’d just done. He wanted to cry at the sight of the boy. His boy. The boy he’d promised not to harm.
And now he’d broken that promise.

---

The transformation had changed Finn in more than the literal sense. There was nothing left of the once so cheerful boy. During the first couple of days, Finn hadn't listened to him once, too scared of him to move an inch. That only changed when Hans couldn't take it anymore.
“Do what I say”, he'd yelled at the boy. “I'll turn you back into a darkling if you disobey.”
Since then nothing had been the same. He had developed other methods of training the boy, as frustrated as he had often been. Finn feared him now, he knew, and he hated that fact. It didn't get in the way of his eventual plan of taking over the kingdom, but he'd completely broken the boy that, as reluctant as he was to admit it, wasn't so much of a son to him anymore. Now he was nothing more than a servant.
Sometimes, on rare occasions, Hans tried to change that. He'd talk to Finn about what had happened, even though he never made it past his truthful "You asked for it!" before Finn stopped listening. The boy took this sentence as just another confirmation that he'd done something wrong and had merely been punished, that it was all his fault and he needed to behave better. Finn's voice had cracked often enough during these times, to the point where Hans eventually decided to let it be, as much as it pained him to do so.
Josh, too, had changed after what he'd witnessed. He didn't even dare touch a pen at this point, too scared of what horrible invention he'd come up with next. He was absolutely useless now, but unlike the other prisoner, the woman, Hans couldn't turn him into a darkling. He looked too much like the king he'd once made a promise to.
A promise he'd failed to keep.

---

By the time he turned twelve, Finn was an entirely different person - and so was Hans. Finn had stopped crying and cowering in fear, but he was still scared of Hans. The man had decided to accept the role Finn had pushed him into and lived the lie the boy believed: the darkling transformation had been a punishment for Finn's disobedience, just like every other hurtful thing he'd ever say or do to the boy. Finn should be eternally grateful for his mercy, and everything Hans had ever done was for his and Finn’s own good. He didn't tolerate disobedience anymore, and didn't let Finn ask questions. If the old Finn was gone, Hans couldn't allow any traces of him.
It was easier that way.
He ruled the kingdom now, only a single boy standing between him and the other world: Josh's son. Hans knew he had already arrived… and when he realized he'd need to hurt Finn again, to the point of permanently crippling him, only to make this plan work… he didn't care. It didn't matter.
The boy he'd promised not to hurt was long gone.

---

“Dummkopf”, Hans mumbled as he stepped through the dark corridor. “Dummkopf, Dummkopf, Dummkopf!”
He didn't care if people heard him. It didn't matter. Nothing did.
Finn was dead. Killed by the boy who now ruled the kingdom.
“Dummkopf!”
It wasn't that kid's doing. Only his own. He'd been the one to break Finn's bones and then turn him into a darkling so his insides would be scrambled beyond repair. The boy king had only relieved him from the pain.
He felt the urge to punch the wall beside him, but one of his hands was still recovering from his fight against Finn.
The fight that had killed the boy.
“Dummkopf!”
Finn had been right with every word he had said to him then. Fern had been right with everything. He was a monster. A heartless, cruel monster that harmed innocent children for his own good. For proving his own stupid brother wrong. That wasn't a reason, that was a sorry excuse for his miserable personality.
He wanted to cry when he stepped into the light. Months had passed since Finn's death, and only now did he dare visit the place he'd never actually been to before. He should have been, he knew it, but he’d never found the courage to talk to the man he'd killed.
He felt only two emotions when he stepped up to the grave of Finn and his father: respect and fear. He knelt down before their statues, forcing himself to look at their faces. They were smiling, but deep inside he knew they hated him with every fiber of their being. And Finn… Finn hadn't smiled for six years, not since before the darkling incident. Or maybe he had - when Josh's son had been there. The boy had changed him - no, he'd revealed that the old Finn had been in there all along.
“I’m sorry”, he whispered, but then he decided that his volume didn't matter, so he allowed himself to cry. To mutter - to scream - his hate against himself in the language of his ancestors. Dummkopf was the lightest of curses he uttered. He knew what Finn had told him: All you did was teach me to hate.
He was right. He was so very right. Hans should have done better. In every godforsaken way.
He should never have listened to Finn’s plea of trying out the stone. He should have tried harder to make up for it. He should have been a father, not a master.
He should have kept his promise.

She was about to go to bed when it happened.
A loud noise cut through the quiet evening air. Crying.
Her little brother.
He was only two; keeping the entire castle awake at night was nothing unusual.
But when he didn’t stop for several minutes, she decid­ed to look after him. Why hadn’t a handmaid tended to him by now? Or his mother?
Something was wrong. Incredibly wrong.
Instinctively, she reached for her staff, the weapon she enjoyed practicing with even though her mother, the queen, didn’t approve of that at all. Unlike her father - King John loved a good adventure and the rebellious spirit of his daughter. And she, in turn, was fully con­vinced that he was the best dad in the entire world. At least someone to have fun with… I can’t wait until Finn’s old enough for our stuff.
With her staff in hand, she scurried through the castle’s dark hallways. She didn’t need a candle; she knew the entire place by heart, including all the secret passages leading all the way through the whole mountain.
The place was completely deserted, which was odd… hadn’t anyone heard Finn crying? This was getting stranger with every step she took, and scarier as well. His voice was getting louder the closer she came to his room, and after the one turn that was between their two rooms, she noticed that the door to his one was open and that someone had turned the light on in there - or not off, whichever was the case.
There was another noise that added to her crying broth­er now: the clash of metal against metal - and as she peeked past the door frame, she saw her father, dressed in his nightwear. Fighting a man in a dark robe whose cack­le sent shivers down her spine.
She let out a scream when the stranger came danger­ously close to seriously injuring her father, and surprised by the noise, King John turned to her, panic in his face. Get out of here, his eyes urged her.
The stranger cackled again just as the king turned his head, and she realized her mistake as well: for one sec­ond, her father was distracted. But this second was one second too long.
»Long live the King«, the stranger announced in a high, raspy, and utterly terrifying voice.
His sword went right through her father’s chest, and as he fell, the king’s face became younger - until it wasn’t King John anymore, but Finn.
The stranger turned his grinning face to the girl, and he wasn’t a stranger anymore either.
It was Fern.

---

Can awoke with a start. Drenched in sweat and with her heart racing, she sat up, breathing deeply in an attempt to calm herself.
»Just a dream«, she reminded herself. But she knew that wasn’t true. She had been having this nightmare for years - of course, the final seconds had only been appear­ing like this ever since Fern had killed Finn, but still. Ev­erything prior to that was real; not a dream, but a memo­ry.
Which made it even harder for her to go back to sleep.
Wide awake as she was, there was no point in even at­tempting that, so she got up instead.
Minutes later, Can found herself wandering through the same hallways she had passed in her dream, with one change: this time, there was no crying. But she was not heading for her brother’s room - in fact, she had no idea where she was going. Still, she confidently made her way through the darkness without any candle to guide her, and she only knew her destination once she was there.
The memorial, and grave, of her father and brother.
With a pain in her chest and her memories haunting her, Can sat down on the bench next to the statues of her relatives. There wasn't much space for her, but enough.
The stars were still shining in the sky in front of her, but fading already. In less than an hour, they would be gone completely, outshone by the dawning sun. She could very well stay here for a while.
It only took seconds for Can to break the silence en­gulfing the place.
»I’m sorry«, she whispered, allowing herself to weep since nobody was around to see her. »I should have saved you. Both of you.«
»It wasn’t your destiny.«
»Or ours.«
Can froze and turned her head to the two statues next to her. Was she still dreaming? No, the stone was as lifeless as ever… but she had heard their voices, as clearly as if the statues had actually spoken to her.
»Finn?«, she asked, still baffled. »Dad?« She eyed the statues, knowing how ridiculous it was. After all, rocks couldn’t talk.
»That’s us.« The voice of her little brother was so clear, so real, that Can refused to believe she was still dreaming.
She cracked a forced smile. »You sound… happy.« Was he really? Even though…
Although his statue didn’t move, Finn’s voice ex­pressed his frustration. He knew what she was think­ing. »Even though I’m dead? Yeah… but it’s not because the time I spent with you wasn’t great. No, that one day I was with all of you... that was the best day of my life.«
And she felt sad all over again. »That’s why I should have saved you.«
»Sometimes we have to leave to make way for some­thing new.« That was her father, King John, as cheerful yet wise as he had always been. The best king, and the best dad, in the world.
»What?« He made it sound like he and his son had wanted to die.
»Of course, neither of us knew that we would die that day«, the man agreed. »But in the end, my death changed the lives of so many people… a lot of suffering came from it, yes, but take yourself, for example. You’d have stayed in the castle and yes, maybe you would still have married Fern…«
»...but I’d never have met the others«, Can realized. »None of them.«
»And I died a hero«, Finn added with a hint of melan­choly. »I miss all of you, I really do! But I just wasn’t supposed to stay.«
»Just like it was Fern’s destiny to become king?«, Can asked, and her father confirmed that.
»Having this much power is hard, I know. You and your friends, you have to be there for him, especially now. Help him as much as you can. He has tough deci­sions to make.«
»Tell him to come here if he ever needs to talk to one of us« , Finn said. »Maybe he... needs to talk things out.«
Can knew all too well what he meant by that. »I’ll let him know.«
»The same goes for you«, King John reminded his daughter. »We’ll always be right here.«
Just then, she started feeling a strange kind of warmth right where her heart was; and still in tears, she nodded. »Always.«
Her father and brother didn't say anything afterwards, but Can could still feel their presence. Knowing them to be beside her comforted her, and so, she kept silent as well, watching as dawn set in.
There was not a single cloud in the sky that was still in a shade of golden red at this early hour. The first birds were filling the air with their music, and the morning sun arose and bathed the country of Tristadtia in a warm light. It was a great country, marked by long years of tyranny, now led by a young king and his allies. But would they bring it back to its former glory?
For Can, there was only one answer.
Yes.
Yes, they would.

They’re bowing. They’re all bowing… to me.
Fern still couldn’t believe his eyes. The room was filled with complete silence as hundreds of people were facing the ground in awe of him.
Of course, he had given speeches to the resistance before; he knew what the respect of many people felt like. Then again, it had never been even half as many people as now, and they had never bowed to him the way they were currently honoring their new king. Him.
That thought was still too overwhelming to bear. It was something he had never wanted to happen, something he had never wanted to be - but he knew as well as his friends that leading this country had always been his destiny, whether one believed in the prophecy or not. And the fact that he was one of the brothers mentioned in it… well, Fern had always been having a lingering feeling that he would be playing a bigger role in it than just that of a companion. He was one of the Brothers, and Finn was the other one. Their encounter from so many years ago had shaped the lives of both of them, and in the end, influenced the entire quest of saving their world. They had discovered that the first impression could be misleading and that their pasts did not define them. So while not actually being related, they really were, in a sense, brothers.
»Thank you«, he spoke up at last, realizing that he had been lost in thought for enough time now. The crowd took that as a sign of returning to a sitting position, and Fern was actually pretty sure he wouldn’t have been able to endure their bows for much longer. That was just… too much. »I cannot put into words how grateful I am for your loyalty. But even, or especially, after my coronation, we should remember that this would never have come to be without the help of those who have joined me on this journey. It was me who banished the Duke in the end, yes, but I would never have come that far without my friends. They deserve your thanks as much as I do, perhaps even more than that. That is why I would like to ask them to come here with me, to give them the respect they should receive.«
His friends gladly followed his order. Most of them - especially Phineas and Bue - were grinning widely, and the others were smiling, at least. Only Bal did not enjoy the sudden spotlight, and Izzy, who had been watching from the side, still needed an inviting gesture from Fern to join the group. Jared, Colin, and Ivan simply took some steps forward since they had not returned to their seats earlier, and Fern did not ask them to. They deserved as much recognition as the others.
Without having to remind them, the people in the audience started bowing again, and Fern’s friends exchanged glances that showed that they were just as overwhelmed as Fern had been, although they seemed to enjoy it - everyone but Bal and Izzy, that is. And the remaining person sitting in the first row, looking quite a lot like Can, visibly found bowing to her own family and friends more than awkward, but did so anyway, if only to avoid being the only person not to bow.
»You may rise«, Fern announced, only partly hiding his amusement about Phineas’ sister. As usual, Can rolled her eyes at him, this time with a hint of »You’re a king now, how about acting like one?« But he shrugged at her. There were just some things that would never change.
As soon as he had everyone’s attention again, he continued: »These people have all contributed to our victory over the Duke. I would like to thank each of them individually… starting with Melody and Josh.«
Melody abruptly stopped her translation of his words for a moment when she heard her own name, then walked over to Josh. The rest of the group had taken a step back, and without having any idea how personal his speeches were going to be, Fern began.
»These two deserve my utmost respect. The Duke had kept them prisoner for years, made them create the force that could turn people into darklings, and had them witness that transformation many times. Melody was even transformed into a darkling herself. It is no secret that the scars of those years, more mental than physical, will need a long time to heal - for both of them. And yet, in spite of how much it took them to do it, they have helped us win against the Duke, and I cannot say how much respect I have for their emotional strength.« Fern looked at them, seeing how flattered they both were. But he had told the truth; he knew how many dark thoughts especially Josh had had to overcome before helping the group. »I owe you something. If there is anything I can do for you, let me know.«
»There is something, yes«, Josh replied, scratching his neck awkwardly. »We want to return to this world, to use our talents to rebuild this country - with your permission, of course, Your Majesty.«
»Don’t call me that«, Fern immediately said, then froze. He was the king now. People had to address him like that; that was part of being royalty. Which meant that he had to take that sentence back before it was too late and people stopped seeing him as the king he was supposed to be. But then again, he had never liked formalities, and especially not the thought of his friends being inferior to him. There was no way he would continue to tolerate that.
»The same goes for everyone standing behind me right now. Everyone I am not as close with, however, is asked to use the formal address.« Yes, that was a good compromise, he decided.
And as for Melody and Josh… »Of course I will allow you to stay in the castle with us«, he stated, not at all hiding his relief as he was looking at Melody in particular. »We could really use your help.« Fern didn’t see why he shouldn’t admit that; everyone in the room agreed with him, after all.
Melody responded with a hug, and Fern had to try hard to hold back tears. To him, it felt like his mother, the one from his world, was hugging him - the woman that had died far too soon. And now Melody would be staying in the castle... yet another person that would be by his side in times of trouble.
She pulled away at last, smiling at him – and with a quick nod, Fern allowed her and Josh to sit down again. Melody seemed to have realized now that with the speeches most likely going to be more personal than of interest for the audience, there was no reason to translate them, so she took a seat next to Josh. Which gave Fern enough reason to continue.
He called the names of Jared and Colin, and thanked them for the loyalty they had been expressing ever since their first encounter. They really were some of his closest friends, even though they could get quite annoying from time to time. At least they knew better than to crack some kind of joke in front of this huge audience.
After they had returned to their seats as well, it was Ivan’s turn. By now, Fern had completely discarded talking about his friends in third person; he was talking to them now. »Ivan.« He smiled at his old friend. »The entire resistance highly values your wisdom, as you are well aware. Your knowledge of herbs is unsurpassed, and your advice is something everyone asks for in times of trouble. I did as well, many times… and while I could not possibly say whether or not the prophecy was just a spawn of your imagination; or if, or how, you could possibly have known its outcome… thank you. For giving us, the resistance, and the small group that went on this journey, something to hold onto. For making us believe that we would win, in a way far more convincing than I could have ever been. I may be King now, but I hope I can continue to count on you as my advisor.«
Ivan lowered his head. »It would be an honor, Your Majesty.«
Fern wanted to protest, but kept silent. He had noticed Ivan’s teasing smirk, and realized that his friend was just testing him. I guess I’ll have to get used to that, he sighed in silence. So he simply thanked Ivan once again and watched him go back to his seat.
»Bue.«
The chubby boy couldn’t contain his excitement and grinned from ear to ear as he took his position in front of Fern. Bue looked up to him, more so than anyone else; Fern knew that. He was his hero.
»I know you have always wanted to be like me, or at least like many others in the resistance. You were upset that we never took you on adventures, and when we finally did a month ago, many of us doubted that bringing you along would be a good idea. It’s not much of a secret that you aren’t as good at fighting, or as athletic, as the others.« Fern’s voice turned more cheerful as he spoke. »But that doesn’t matter! You showed us all that you are as brave as many of us. You saved Finn from certain death with the skills Ivan has taught you, and even though it… didn’t work a second time… it wasn’t your fault. You did your best, and more importantly: you proved that one doesn’t have to be strong to be useful. You were an essential part of our group, and Ivan and I agree that you do not have to carry the title of apprentice any longer. At least in terms of ranks, you and Ivan are equal now.«
Bue gasped, then stormed over to Fern and hugged him, completely ignoring the etiquette. But Fern didn’t mind and let it happen, until Bal was the one to clear his throat and remind Bue of the situation. The small boy shrugged, apologized with a »Whoops, sorry!«, and quickly walked to Ivan instead, waiting for Fern to continue.
And he did - with the person that meant more to him than anyone else in the room.
Can just looked at him with her usual teasing smirk. She was proud of him, of course, but skeptical as always when it came to any action Fern was about to do.
»Can.« He countered with the same expression. »You have been with me for most of my life, and I’m more than glad that you were. You know me better than anyone else, and you always help me make the best decisions. You’re more rational than I could ever be, and I wouldn’t have been a half as great leader without you. Thanks for that.«
She shrugged, and the message in her expression was clear: »Well, someone’s got to do it.« But she didn’t mean that in a bad way, of course. She was just as glad to have him.
»You know as well as I do that a certain… arrangement from many years ago wasn’t exactly a great thing. I’d never consider you my wife, that’s just ridiculous. You’re a sister to me, Can, and a great one, too. And that’s why I, as the king, hereby revoke our marriage.« Fern took a relieved sigh the moment he had finished. It truly felt liberating - not that he had ever thought of her as his wife, but now, it was completely out of the way.
And Can, in turn, hugged him, if only for a second or two. »Thanks, bro«, she smiled, just as glad as the boy. After letting go, she took a seat next to her counterpart from the first dimension, Candace, who immediately asked her about the marriage in a hushed, stunned tone. Fern did not bother listening to that, so he continued with his acknowledgments.
His heart was racing when he called for Izzy to come to him, and she only reluctantly left her spot in the back. But when she was facing him, he noticed again just how gorgeous she was with her ebony hair and her confident charisma. It took him a moment to find his words, determined not to make a fool of himself. »Izzy«, he said at last, »I know it wasn’t easy for you to join us, especially with all the things you’ve been through. But despite your bad experiences in the past, you still chose to help us, even though we’ve hardly done anything for you to give you a good reason to do it. We would have had a pretty big problem without you and Brain -«, the dog was sitting near the benches, and Fern glanced at him for a moment, »- and I really can’t thank you enough. I’ve also got a… present for you, and I know you’re not thinking too highly of me, so if you don’t like it, feel free to slap me across the face or whatever.«
Izzy raised an eyebrow at that, both skeptical and, even more so, confused. But she didn’t say anything in reply, which Fern took as a good sign.
»Okay, well, close your eyes.«
»Is that a trick?«, she asked now, still skeptical. But Fern shook his head.
»Do you trust me?«
»What’s that even supposed to mean?«
»Do you?«, he insisted, and she gathered herself as she closed her eyes.
»...yeah. Okay, yeah… I do.«
»Good.« There was not much else to say. So Fern leaned forward, took her into his arms, and kissed her before she had any chance of protesting.
It was true, he had felt some strange kind of affection for her ever since their first encounter. She had been distant ever since, yes, and he had been quite a fool around her. Can had sensed what was going on soon enough, and he had no doubt that she wasn’t the only one. Izzy made him feel something he had been supposed to feel for Can because of their marriage and all, and what better time to admit his feelings than now? This was the only suitable way of thanking her, and it wasn’t hard for Fern to ignore the surprised gasps of the crowd. He had never kissed a girl before - well, other than the awkward kiss with Can at their wedding when he had been but a child -, but still, this wasn’t feeling so bad. Quite the contrary, in fact. He was pretty sure that this was the best moment of his life.
The reason for that quickly dawned on him the second he pulled away at last: Izzy drew him closer again, she kissed him back, and the audience erupted into cheers once again. His friends in particular: Jared and Colin, of course, and all the others that had known of their feelings for each other.
After what had felt like an eternity, a wonderful eternity, Izzy let go of him. Their eyes locked for a second, and Fern could see happiness in her beautiful eyes - and the shock of the realization of what had just happened. She struggled for words, then turned away… and stormed out of the room, her confused dog running after her.
Fern watched her leave, at a loss for words himself. With a pat on the back, it was Buford who brought him back down to earth. »Great job, man. She’s totally into you.«
The greenhead was still too perplexed to reply and decided to stop thinking about Izzy for now. He had more important things to do at this point. So he nodded. »Buford, Baljeet.« Buford was already standing beside him; he might as well continue with these two. »Nobody had expected you to join us on our quest, but you did it anyway. You have taken great risks, both by joining us and by entering this unknown world in the first place. And most remarkably, you did all of this for Phineas and Ferb. You are two of the best friends anyone could ever hope to have, and I am certain they are aware of that.« Fern looked at Baljeet, and then at Buford, as he spoke. »The combination of your intellect and your strength make you a great team, but I’m sure you know that already. I have a present for you as well, especially for you, Buford.«
»Food?«, the boy immediately asked, which made Baljeet roll his eyes. A common situation for the two of them, apparently.
»No, not food. Something better than that.« From his jacket’s pocket - he had not bothered dressing up for the occasion, mostly since his more festive clothing was too small and/or too moth-eaten at this point, and Ferb had been considerate enough to return the jacket after taking it to the first dimension when Melody had needed something to wear -, Fern took a letter, almost identical to the one Baljeet had shown his friends earlier today, with the same red seal on it. He handed it to Buford. »Don’t open it«, he warned when Buford was about to do just that. »It needs to stay unopened if you want it to work.«
The bully paused, suspiciously eyeing the letter. »Then tell me what’s in it, at least.«
»You see, Baljeet told me about your father -«, Fern began, knowing very well what the Indian boy had said: that this was a very touchy subject for Buford.
And indeed, Buford balled his fist, thankfully only with the hand not holding the letter. He glared at Baljeet, furious and betrayed.
»Wait, Buford, hear me out«, Fern interrupted him before he could get mad at Baljeet.
The bully stopped moving, at least, staring at Fern as if saying »You better have a good thing to tell me.«
Fern nodded. »It's not his fault that I know. I overheard you mentioning your father that one afternoon and got curious, so later, I asked Baljeet about what happened. He told me that your father has been in there for many years now, too many; and I believe him on that. Now, I don’t know much about your dimension’s judicial system, but I am almost completely certain they have to follow the demands of a king, especially the one of an alternate Danville.« He smiled as he noticed how, slowly but surely, Buford started realizing what Fern was telling him. »Yes, Buford; this letter contains my request of releasing your father from prison.«
Buford’s reaction was the fourth hug Fern received that day, and it lasted far longer than the other ones. The bully was crying, too, thanking his friend over and over. It took Baljeet’s entire convincibility to make him let go, and for the rest of the event, Buford held Fern’s letter as if it was the most sacred thing in the universe.
Of course, there was a small chance of the request not being carried out, but Buford was so happy at this point that Fern thought it best not to remind him of that.
Instead, he went on with the next person - there weren’t that many left, and Fern was actually quite happy about that, for it had been a long time since had last talked this much. It was Phineas’ turn now, and Fern found himself staring at the boy’s left arm. Ferb had told him about what had happened, and yet, it was hard to believe. There was no indication of the arm not being natural, and Fern was incredibly glad that Phineas had made it through his injuries so well. Unlike Finn…
Fern quickly let go of that thought. This wasn’t the time to think about that. Not now. He took a deep breath.
»Phineas. Most of the things I said to Bue apply to you as well: it is true that some of us might have looked down on you because of your lack of fighting skills and everything. But you didn’t need those to be an essential part of our team, because you provided us with something else: hope. You believed in us when the rest of us did not, and things would have taken quite a different turn if it had not been for your words to Finn. You made him believe in himself, in the good side of things; and most of all, you made him happy . Because of you, he found something worth fighting for and… thank you. On his behalf.« He turned quieter as he spoke; the image of Finn’s lifeless body still on his mind. I had to kill him , he reminded himself. To save Phineas. ...right?
»It was for the best«, Phineas said just as quietly. »You did the right thing. He’d have wanted you to do it.«
Fern brushed it off. »...I guess.«
Ferb stepped beside Phineas, locking eyes with Fern. The message was clear: »Think of him later. Go on with your speech.«
Yeah. I need to go on. For Finn. He acknowledged the words with a nod, allowed Phineas to sit down again, and continued with Ferb.
»Ferb - I’ll be honest with you. Ever since hearing of you, and especially since seeing you, I had great respect for you. I mean, you were me, in a sense. And not only that, but a Me who actually had it all together. I’ve learned a lot from you during our journey, and I have no doubt that you, too, would make a great king. Of course, we will never find out about that, but I will strive to incorporate everything I have learned from you into my rule, your reserve in particular. Thank you for that.«
Ferb nodded in reply, not saying anything. He was a boy of few words, yet with all the more power to them. That too was something Fern decided to remember.
»I have a gift for you as well«, Fern continued, gesturing Ferb to wait as he left the room for a moment, returning with a sheath containing a sword. One could tell from its handle that it was not Fern’s royal sword of shining silver, but rather the simple and not at all decorated one that Ferb had used on their journey. »I have no use for it at this point, and I know you won’t need it in your dimension either, but I think it is a nice way to remember our journey in spite of what this weapon was used for.«
Once again, Ferb nodded as Fern handed him the sword. In his often not very revealing eyes, Fern could see that his friend knew all too well what he was talking about. The day he had hurt Phineas. But Ferb accepted the gift – to keep it as a reminder of that fight, to make him remember how much his friends truly cared about him. Just like Fern had taken his royal sword with him when he and Can had left the castle, as a constant reminder of his duty to protect those he cared about.
Ferb was already about to return to his seat when his look-alike stopped him.
»Wait, there is one more thing.« He waited until he had Ferb’s attention again. »I doubt that it will ever be of use to you, in this dimension or yours, but I know how much you value what you call medieval traditions. They are still common here in Tristadtia, as you might have figured - and in regard to your actions on our journey, everything you have done for us and your family… kneel down.«
In the audience, Phineas, Baljeet, Candace, and Josh all exchanged confused glances. But Buford and Melody seemed to have figured out what was about to happen: the bully was grinning like an idiot, and Ferb’s mother was watching her son as he carried out Fern’s order, proud of him in every way.
Fern noticed with a hint of envy how Ferb knelt down much more gracefully than his look-alike during his coronation, not trembling at all. He lowered his head, waiting for Fern to continue - only for the young king to realize that he had literally no idea what to say. So he stood there in silence for a brief moment - until a voice from at his feet relieved him of the necessary words.
«King Fernando Alexander Fleming of Tristadtia - I, Ferdinand Arthur Fletcher, am kneeling down before you today to take an oath of utmost loyalty. I hereby swear that, for the rest of my lifetime, I will protect you with my life and follow your every command. I will also forever be loyal to my family and friends, and guard them just as well as I will guard you. Shall it ever occur to you that I am willingly breaking this oath, I will accept your choice of punishment without complaint.«
The room went silent as he spoke, his friends staring at him in stunned disbelief. Fern, too, was astonished by the words that he knew to be an exaggeration - but then again, Ferb sounded completely sincere, and after their adventure together, they all knew that he really was. He took his traditions seriously, just like Fern had said.
There was no way for Fern to even reach his look-alike’s level of epic formality, so he decided to make the best out of his own abilities, trying to remember the knighting ceremonies he had attended back when he had still been a child. Not that it would be any help whatsoever. Still, he drew his own sword, its emerald, the eye of the pommel's eagle, shimmering in the light that the sun was casting through the windows. That thing’s more royal than I’ll ever be , Fern thought. Hopefully that’s going to be the last knighting I’ll be doing for a while.
But as he spoke, he noticed how somewhere lost in the depths of his mind, there really was some faint memory guiding his words. »Then having sworn these solemn oaths, I, Fernando Alexander Fleming, King of Tristadtia, shall dub you with my sword, Eagleheart, and by all that you hold sacred, true, and holy. Once for honor, twice for duty, thrice for chivalry.« He placed the flat side of his sword’s blade on Fern’s shoulders and head, respectively. And, just for the sake of it, and because it would not feel complete otherwise, he concluded, becoming louder one final time: »Arise, Sir Ferb, Knight of Danville.«
And the boy did, accompanied by the cheers of the audience. Phineas was the most prominent voice, of course, with Buford being a close second. Melody would undoubtedly have cheered as well, but she was too busy weeping with joy - after all, she had been the one to give Ferb the name of Arthur in the first place. She was the reason this very moment was so important to him that he, too, shed more than one tear of happy disbelief.
And Fern smiled as well, knowing that he had just made his friend’s day, or most likely more than that, just like he had made Buford, Izzy, and all the others indescribably happy.
But wait, there was one person left. Still standing behind Fern and near the wall, careful not to draw any attention to himself, looking quite abandoned and, most of all, uncomfortable.
»Bal.«
The boy seemed genuinely surprised at the mention of his name, as if he had already come to terms with having been forgotten. While Ferb sat down with his sword at his feet and being celebrated by his family and friends, Bal took his place in front of Fern, wary as ever.
»Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten you. The only reason you are last is because I have the most things to say to you.«
Bal widened his eyes, his expression shocked. He didn’t think too highly of himself, Fern knew that all too well.
»Some of you might know this boy as Balavan Tinley«, Fern began, ignoring his friend and talking to the audience instead. »The boy responsible for the destruction of an entire village. And not only that, he did it willingly, giving up his family and every other citizen for the sake of saving the life of one unimportant boy. All of that is true, and he would undoubtedly do it again.« He knew that not only people from Bal’s old village were present right now, but also his parents, nodding at Fern’s words with stern faces. Bal’s probably the only person in this room hating their parents as much as I do. And he could hear hushed voices now, talking badly about Bal, for they felt affirmed by the king’s words.
Bal, facing Fern with his back to the audience, flinched at every hurtful word reaching his ears, and he was on the verge of tearing up. Talking like this about his longtime friend pained Fern as much as Bal himself, and yet there was no lie in his words, they both knew that. But there was a reason for Fern’s harsh words - a reason he unveiled now.
»But when he joined the resistance, he proved every single day that he was willing to put all of this, all his previous mistakes, behind - just like many of you I have met over the years, I'm sure. He's been running from his past as much as I did, and maybe more of you as well, and just like me, he's done his very best to prove that these past actions do not define him, that he has many qualities I more than merely respect him for. He would give up his own life just to save mine or that of someone he loves, and you might call that stupid, but he's saved my life far more often than I did such a thing for him, and I am very lucky to call him one of the people I will forever and always trust the most. I'm not saying that you are wrong for blaming him for all that has happened back then, quite the contrary, but you are most definitely wrong for believing he is a lawless, ruthless, self-centered villain - for without him, we would never have gotten this far on our journey, and we would have never been able to save all of you.«
And since he had only talked to the audience up to now, Fern turned to his friend, genuinely smiling at him like Bal had only ever known it from Bue.
»I know you're thinking you don't deserve any of the things I just said... but you do. All of it is true, Bal - I don't know what I would have done without you in all those years. You are my best and most loyal, most trustworthy friend, someone I can always count on in times of trouble to provide me with both a rational point of view and the best archery skills I have ever seen in my life. And I know you don't hear this enough, from anyone, but... thank you, Bal. For everything. If it means anything to you: I'm proud of you.«
It was Bue who started shouting his best friend’s name now, and many others joined in. Even Jared and Colin, who had never considered Bal a great companion, took part in the celebration of the boy that deserved far more than he thought he did.
And Bal… he was just standing there, trembling once again, and tearing up indeed - not out of sadness, but out of joy. He could not believe what was happening, could not fathom the thought of the people cheering for him at all, but it was true.
»That’s your applause, Bal.« Fern looked his friend into the watery eyes. »Yours alone.«
Bal nodded, still trying to process the situation. His eyes trailed to one of the room’s exits, and Fern approved with a nod. This was all too much for his friend to take.
And so, Bal left the throne room, still in tears - but his friends let him.
»Well, time for the after show party, isn’t it«, Fern decided, louder than he had wanted to be. His proposal was well-received, probably with the most enthusiastic cheers he had heard that day, and he discarded actually concluding his speeches. Instead, he shrugged it off - he felt exhausted after the event as well, and he could use some relaxation. So he gave the sign for bringing in the long-anticipated buffet, which actually caused Buford to squeal in excitement. Fern snorted at that and found himself hungry as well.
Fern was still not fond of acting like a distant and noble king, so he quickly let his crown disappear in some inner pocket of his beloved jacket and joined his friends at long last.
»Isn’t it great how everyone got exactly what they wanted?«, Buford asked his group of friends just as he was filling his stomach with some roasted meat. He was eating with one hand, still careful not to damage the letter he had received in any way.
»It is indeed«, Baljeet nodded, frowning as he was racking his brains about who knew what.
»What’s wrong?«, Phineas asked. Fern had not been the only one to notice Baljeet’s expression.
The Indian boy sighed. »It is just that it feels like something is missing, but I cannot wrap my mind around what it is.«
They all pondered about that for a moment, and it was Bue who figured it out. »A song?«
Yes, that was right, Fern agreed. Phineas had told them in the beginning of their journey how much he loved singing, and with the two songs Fern had heard from his friends by now, he felt like another one would be a great way to round off the festivity.
»Can we help?« Fern did not recognize the voice, and neither the person behind it: a tall man with long brown hair who was accompanied by a bald one and one with gray-brown hair. The latter had a quite apathetic stare that was focused on Fern in particular, while the man that had spoken up gave Ferb a high-five. They were all carrying medieval instruments, too.
»Who is that?«, Baljeet asked, and it was Can who told him.
»Some guys that helped us find Josh«, she explained, her eyes resting on the bald man. »Denton, Robbie, and Sheldon.«
I rode on him, Fern realized as he returned Sheldon's stare. I knew this would be incredibly awkward someday.
»We're a little out of practice, but we're still musicians!«, Denton continued.
But Phineas shook his head, even though he must have recognized who these men were in his dimension. »That's nice of you, guys, but it's time to bring some technology into this place.« He smiled at Ferb as they revealed two instruments: electric guitars, he said, leaving the Tristadtians quite amazed by this modern invention. Not to mention by how the boys had been able to store these two instruments in the first place. »Would you do us the honor, Your Majesty?«, Phineas grinned.
»What?« They couldn’t possibly want him to…
»You know, sing for us.«
»No!«, Fern immediately replied. »You’ve got to be kidding me. I can’t sing. Not at all.«
»I’ve never heard you sing«, Can pointed out. »And I refuse to believe that you’re telling the truth.«
Buford agreed as well, teasing his friend. »You only need to sound half as great as the other You to absolutely rock this place.«
Ferb blushed at that, but nodded.
There was no way around it, it seemed. They all wanted to hear him sing. But there was one last chance to get out of this. »Well, I’ve got nothing prepared. There’s no way I can just improvise an entire song. Sorry, guys.«
But Phineas waved his hand dismissively. »Nah, we’re doing that all the time. Now come on!«
And so, Buford shoved Fern back to where he had stood before, and Ferb handed him the pocket knife he recognized from their journey. This time, though, it had been turned into a device Fern had not seen before.
»That’s a microphone«, Phineas explained as he and Ferb took position on the right and left side of Fern, respectively. »Sing into it, it adds to the atmosphere.« It was then that Fern noticed two boxes beside the boys, but Phineas just gave him a sign to begin.
Fern cleared his throat, and the sound echoed from the two boxes behind him. It made everyone in the room turn their heads, and now there really was no way around it. He had everyone’s attention.
Phineas and Ferb started playing their guitars that were plugged into the boxes as well, and the sound was amplified once again. It was a nice, slow beat, easy for Fern to get into. His words were more talking than actually singing, for he still had absolutely no idea how to do this.

»Have you ever been so far below
You could only see light using a telescope?
Point it up to the sky and wonder why does hope
Feel so far but look so close.«

Phineas was right. The words came right out of him without him having to think much about them. They were coming from his heart, memories of the journey they had embarked on together. And most of all, his own personal journey.

»Will you wander with me to the edge?
Take a breath, tell the world that we're not finished yet.
Cast a net to the stars and see if we can get
Closer to the light at the end.«

Having heard the music, both Bal and Izzy had reappeared from outside the room, and Fern looked at both of them as he sang these words. They were dedicated to them more than to anyone else - other than Can, of course, but she was already aware of that. The two near the exit, however, were always quick to forget his message.

»Let our eyes show the fire in our hearts tonight,
Yeah, our eyes show the fire in our hearts tonight.
Let our eyes show the fire in our hearts tonight,
‘Cause you can’t stop the fire, you can’t stop the fire.«

That was the chorus, Fern realized, and it was meant for everyone. The future was coming, and it was coming for them all.

»Maybe I’m crazy, yeah, a little naive,
But the light at the end is brighter than it used to be.
Got a long way to go, but I know, I believe
That the light at the end is brighter than it used to be.«

As he was singing, Fern had to admit that it wasn’t all that bad. Quite the contrary, really - he was more than just enjoying it, and Phineas and Ferb were doing some quite amazing musical accompaniment.

»You don't have to hide, you know we've all got scars.
The broken we were becoming who we are.
The proof that it doesn't matter how we start –
We can be more than a spark.«

Most of all, this song made him remember how he had to be brave. How he was in charge of this country now, and how he needed to stay strong. It didn’t matter what people thought him to be - his past, his blood, his father did not define him, it was what he made of his own abilities. He was a natural leader, that much was certain, and why should a king be cold and distant? Fern loved being a part of the adventures he sent his people on, and he would never give that up.

»Let our eyes show the fire in our hearts tonight,
Yeah, our eyes show the fire in our hearts tonight.
Let our eyes show the fire in our hearts tonight
‘Cause you can’t stop the fire, you can’t stop the fire.«

Not even the Duke. No, he had been the one to bring them all together. All his plans had backfired on him, and now they were stronger than ever before.

»Maybe I’m crazy, yeah, a little naive,
But the light at the end is brighter than it used to be.
Got a long way to go, but I know, I believe
That the light at the end is brighter than it used to be.«

Fern locked eyes with Phineas as he sang this second chorus. Once he was done, he kept quiet, for it was Phineas’ turn now. The redhead loved singing, so Fern was not going to keep that from him. Not when he had something so important to say.

»There's a thin line between hoping and believing,
A thin line between sleeping and dreaming,
A thin line between paying dues
And losing everything that ever mattered to you.
Well, this is our time, this is our life,
This is our song, this is our night.
And if the world gives up, we'll carry on,
Turn the volume up and we'll sing along!«

Following Phineas’ words, Buford broke into a »Whoa-oh-oh-oh«, something that was soon imitated by Bue, Jared, Colin, and all the other people enjoying the song. Between each repetition of these backup voices, it was Ferb who continued with one line of the song, his deep voice outshining Fern’s completely. At least it sounded like it; there was no way for Fern to sound even half as good as that.

»You've got a home,
And you've got a song.
No, you're not alone,
Just sing along.
Through the ups and downs,
When the road gets long,
Know you're not alone.«

But outshone voice or not, Fern took over for one last chorus - and judging by the crowd’s singing along and really enjoying the song, he couldn’t sound that bad, could he?

»Maybe I’m crazy, yeah, a little naive,
But the light at the end is brighter than it used to be.
Got a long way to go, but I know, I believe
That the light at the end is brighter than it used to be.«

Fern repeated these lines one more time, and by then, he had decided that it didn’t matter whether he sounded great or not. It was the message that counted, and he was certain he had made it clear to everyone.
The music died away, and just as it was gone, Ferb, as usual, had the last word:

»Got a long way to go, but I know, I believe
That the light at the end is brighter than it used to be.«

And deep in his heart, Fern knew that his friend was right.