//------------------------------// // A Long Day // Story: A Lost Hero // by Happy2343 //------------------------------// “J-jeez Phoebe, don’t worry, I’m not that…” He trailed off, he looked up at Flame Princess. She was a bit taken aback at the informal use of her first name. He actually chuckled lightly, “Let’s go.” Finn quickly got out of his bed, grabbed his backpack, sword, and hat. He nodded to Flame Princess. She nodded back and walked out of the door. Finn followed her out the door hastily. He caught a glimpse of her face, it was a mixture of concern, sadness, and anger. The last emotion, no doubt being directed at him. Finn and Flame Princess walked in silence other than the clanking of her armor and Finn’s occasional grunt. The atmosphere reeked with tension, not just between the friends, but Finn could feel it throughout the castle. Every stray guard they passed was tense, ready, waiting. ‘This matter must really be important…’ Finn sighed, “What’s wrong Phoebe?” Finn asked. FP looked to Finn, then looked back and continued walking, “There’s been a large black cloud sighted over what’s left of the Ice Kingdom.” She replied while quickening her pace, “The Lich is coming.” She stated. Finn nearly stopped walking at that, ‘On its way… here…’ He surmised in his head. He wanted to kill the thing that ended his life, he wanted to kill the Lich so very bad. But at the same time, he wanted to turn tail and run, ‘I can’t face the Lich… I’ll just screw it up somehow,’ he thought. Finn’s face dropped into a depressed look. Phoebe looked over and saw this, “Finn…” She began to speak, “Don’t worry, we’ll win…” She reassured. She added under her breathe, “We have to…” Phoebe moved her eyes to look at the passing windows as they walked. The ominous cloud now entirely encompassing the mountains far away in their shadow’s. “They’re about a day and a half away,” She stated with trepidation, “A day and a half to…” She trailed off, not knowing what to say. “Live,” Finn stated, he turned to her, Phoebe did the dame to him, “A day and a half to live.” He restated. Phoebe turned away, her face growing slightly hotter than usual. “Guess I’ve still got it in me.” He confidently said FP turned back and rolled her eyes at him, ”Yeah, Yeah, sure, sure.” She said. They were both smiling, nearly laughing, ‘It feels just like the old days…’ Fin thought, ‘We had so much fun back then…’ His smile started to leave his face, Phoebe noticed. She stopped walking, Finn did too. They looked into each other’s eyes, both, however, not knowing how to proceed. It was obvious to both of them there was some sort of old flame still between them. ‘Or the imminent prospect of death,’ Finn thought. Finn and Phoebe continued to look into each other's eyes. Both faces were getting redder, hotter. Their breaths began to grow shorter. The tension in Finn only seemed to grow. ‘What the heck do I do!!!???’ He screamed at himself. He went with his gut. ‘Let her take the-’ Phoebe closed the distance between their lips and kissed him. Finn’s eyes went wide while hers closed. “Don’t expect to get any more of those Finn.” She said playfully, then smirked at the humans’ shocked face and continued on walking. Finn merely tried to process what just occurred. His heart was beating with all its might. ‘What the?!’ He thought, ‘Why in the world would she do that?’, ‘Is there some overarching plan?’, ‘Was this her idea; heal me, make me fall in love wit-’ He snapped back to reality and looked to where she was just standing, ‘She’s gone.’ He looked down the hallway and saw her and her maroon battle armor walking off. He practically sprinted to catch up with her. She walked past Finn and began to open the door. Finn put his hand on hers, stopping her. “Phoebe, I want to talk,” Finn stated, “not about what just happened.” He finished. She quickly retracted her hand off the doorknob and put it near her chest. She gave a concerned look on her face. Finn’s hand went back to his side. “Sure,” Phoebe said as if nothing had happened, “What about?” For some reason, her cheeks seemed more orange. Finn tried disregarded that. ‘Don’t focus on the cheeks man, the MISSION!’ “The Lich,” Finn replied sternly, “It um… did something to me…’ She immediately stopped and turned. “What?” She asked seriously, “What did it do?” “It uh, actually, first, promise me you won’t tell anyone.” Finn said, “And one of those fancy princesses promises you can’t break.” He elaborated. Phoebe only nodded, ‘How did he know?’ “I swear on my honor.” Finn breathed in deeply. “Okay…” He said Finn began pulling up his shirt. Phoebe blushed slightly but watched intently. He pulled up the portion of his sky-blue shirt all the way to reveal the green patch around his shoulder. He moved it slightly with his hand to reveal a black mass all around and over his skin. Phoebe gasped and moved her hand to pull it back down. “Finn!” She steamed, “Why didn’t you tell me sooner!?” She half asked, half yelled. “Ugh!” She groaned annoyed. She put her hands to her head. “You ARE SO… Hmph…” Finn rubbed the back of his head. Phoebe exhaled audibly, “We’ll… talk later…Finn.” She turned back to the door and prepared to enter, then she turned her head to Finn. “Why did you tell me, Finn?” Phoebe asked, “You didn’t tell me like, two weeks ago.” She finished. “Well....” He rubbed the back of his head, “I trust you, and uh… you should know those types of things.” She cocked her head forward toward him, “I kissed you?” She asked suggestively. He nodded. She shook her head playfully, She looked to the door, “I thought so,” She said, “Thanks for telling me, though, we will have to talk about this later.” “I… uh… no problem FP…” He replied. She turned back to the door, Flame Princess walked into the war room. There, there were several members of the Flame Kingdom council. One of these members, was Flame Princess’s brother, Flint. Another was Cinnamon Bun, who was standing in the corner idly and then a few other military commanders. They all rose out of their seats as Flame Princess entered the room. She swiftly walked over to her seat at the head of the table. Finn followed her, trying not to notice the gazes of Flint and the others. ‘Well,’ He thought, ‘This is going to end badly.’ He quickly checked his hand, ‘Still blue…’ He thought. Finn looked forward, ‘This might get a bit… heated.’ Finn stood behind a seat next to Flame Princess. She looked at all the faces at her. All of them were looking at her, except for Flint. Flint was looking at Finn, scrutinizing him, studying him, judging him. Finn ignored the look, he had already felt it several times before. Finn instead looked to Phoebe with a stern and serious look, ready for whatever she throws at him. ‘Figuratively or literally…’ Finn thought. Flame princess sat down. This was mirrored by every other person in the room. As if sensing the tension in the room, Phoebe cleared her throat. “We are here to discuss plans to defend the Fire Kingdom against the Lich,” Flame Princess stated to the gathered officials, “Not to antagonize our allies.” She seethed. Finn could feel eyes on him, piercing him. He tried to somehow hide, making himself smaller and looking away. ‘Thanks for shining the spotlight FP.’ Finn thought. He looked at her, she was too busy looking at the rest of the room. Finn sighed. The room gave a series of grunts and affirmations. FP nodded and sat down. This was followed by everyone in the room, including Finn, sitting down in their respective chairs. Flame Princess turned to Finn. “Finn,” she said. He perked up and turned to her, “You’ve fought this thing before, what would you do?” “Well…” Finn began, “Uh… the way I beat him the last time was by trapping him in an unwinnable situation.” FP and the others nodded, “And the first time?” She asked again. “I stuck something through its head,” He stated, “Then it exploded.” Flint stood up, “Frankly, sister, I feel ‘sticking something through its head’, would the most sensible option of the two.” He sounded dejected at the prospect. “I agree,” Flame Princess said, she turned to everyone in the room who gave their nods; then she turned back to Finn. “Is there anything you can tell us about how to exactly fight the Lich?” Finn looked down, trying to think about any advice he can give. “It’s alright,” FP said, “We still have time.” “Sister,” She turned her attention to her brother, her arms folded, “I want to urge a pre-emptive strike on the Lich’s forces,” He suggested, “Catching him off-guard will easily give us an advantage.” Finn raised out of his brooding, “I’d advise against that Flame Princess,” He said, making sure to use her official title instead of her name. She looked at him, he continued, “The Lich… he has some sort of… sense… when it comes to fighting and scouting.” He finished. “There’s been no report of this,” Flint stated. “There’s no report on the Lich at all,” Finn retorted, “All we have to go off is experience.” Fp tried to step in and stop the conversation, “Let-”, “Your experience!” Flint interrupted, “As a failure!” Flint turned his attention to his sister, “Finn is obviously not going to help us.” Flint Shrieked, “We don’t have time for this,” He stood up and pointed at Finn, “He’s been in the castle’s infirmary for weeks! He’s had plenty of time to recover.” He then pointed his head directly at Finn, “I don’t care what hardships you’ve had to go through, and frankly, I don’t care about your well-being, I care about this Kingdom!” He emphasized his point by waving his arms around the room. “Sister, I want to have Finn removed from this council, his strategies are flawed and are obviously made up by pure dumb luck.” FP had her fingers rubbing her temples, “Be that as it may,” Flame Princess started, “Finn is the only one who has fought the Lich-” “What about that dog, Jake? What happened to him?” He asked mockingly, “Exactly what’s going to happen to us if we listen to him.” Finn stood up and began yelling back, “If you want to show me how much you care then come at me!” “Flint!” FP beamed, “I said we are not here to antagonize our allies, I was hoping you could pick up on the subtlety.” She said, Flint stared back, and an angry look on his face. “Obviously I overestimated you brother!” She pointed to the door, “GET OUT!” Flint folded his arms, “Really sister, and here I thought you had gotten over your little tryst here.” He nodded his head toward Finn, “I believe you could do much better.” FP’s and Finn’s faces went red; Finn for embarrassment, Flame Princess for a mixture of embarrassment and anger. She thrust her hands into the table, causing it to shake, “Flint you stop right now before I throw you to the Lich.” Flame Princess seethed through her lips. Flint ignored his sister, instead, turning his attention back to Finn, “Your dog friend listened to you, and look where he is now!” Finn, angry as hell, drew his grass sword despite the pain in his arm. He got ready to lunge at the insolent Prince. A bolt of fire flew across the table, silencing both of them. “Both of you! SILENT!” Flint didn’t move; neither did Finn, they stared across the table, The rest of the room was silent, “Flint, I never would’ve thought that you were capable of this.” She shook her head, “Guards, take him away, I will deal with him later.” Two guards that were in the corner of the room flanked Flint. “Sister,” He said mockingly. The guards shoved them and Flame Princess watched as the left the room. “Now that that is… settled,” She turned to Finn, “Was there anything Princess… Bubblegum was able to come up with?” She said the second part in a more soothing voice. ‘It doesn’t make a difference, I’m gonna tell you.’ Finn thought. “Yes,” Finn stated, “She did.” The several members of the table had sighed in relief. Finn only continued, “P.B. developed the Gumball guardians into a fierce Lich-fighting force. They nearly destroyed the Lich the second time I encountered him.” He looked at FP optimistically, “You have some of these guardians right?” “It’s… complicated,” Flame princess replied, “The, Fire Guardians aren’t as powerful as the Gumball Guardians were.” She paused, “And there is only one…” “What!?” Yelled one of FP’s brothers, “There were at least six!” He stated. “No, Ember,” FP paused, “There is only one left… Princess Bubblegum saw them as a… threat to the Candy Kingdom.” She continued, “She destroyed all but one.” “Well…” Finn began, “I guess that was like her…” He put his elbows on the table and hung his head on his hands. Finn let out an annoyed groan. “Is there anything else you know about?” Flame Princess asked optimistically. Finn spoke through his hands, “Yes, but it’s at my house, it’ll be long of a walk to get there and back safely.” He lifted his head up, “But last I checked the… the thing I have is out of power. There’s no guarantee it’ll even work.” Silence. The room grew incredibly silent as the officers and higher-ups took in the situation. Their most powerful asset was underpowered while Ooo’s main hero was beaten and demoralized, and an army of powerful monsters march on them before tomorrow. Flame Princess turned around and looked out the window. She was able to clearly see the cloud of dust and darkness marching toward them, tearing through the Ice Kingdom like a hot knife. She silently came to peace with the situation, ‘We’re not going to win this…’ She moved her eyes to see her troops, lining the walls hastily and disorganized. Bows and arrows with fire tips sat in buckets nearby them. She spied their blackened swords of obsidian and whatever other materials they were able to scour together. Her eyes moved again, the castle’s gate had been shut and sealed, preventing it from working any more even if they were to win. ‘But we’ll give them one hell of a fight.’ She turned to the men behind her. Finn had sat up in his chair, waiting for some sort of divine sign from the heavens, or some sort of words from FP. “Well,” Flame Princess began, “I don’t intend to die without doing something.” She turned to Finn, “You have the Enchiridion, right?” Finn nodded, “Good, that book has some serious power, see if there is a spell in it that can allow at least some of us to escape.” Finn again nodded. He got up from his chair and began walking out, “I’ll come back later to see what you found.” “Yes your highness,” Finn responded. Finn turned another page of the Enchiridion, taking in the page’s info into his mind, ‘Okay, the sword of endless enemies?’ He read the page, ‘A sword that when grabbed an endless horde of monsters begin to attack…’ He turned the page again, ‘The cloak of invisibility…’ He turned the page again, ‘The Citadel. No.’ Finn looked up to the ceiling and groaned, annoyed, ‘There’s nothing…’ He thought. He looked back to the book. His anger grew. He took the book on the desk and threw it against the wall. It fell to the ground with a thump. He stared at the book on the ground intently; studying the book, its pages, its creases, and the seams of it. ‘So much power…’ He thought, ‘But not enough time.’ He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, ‘Not enough time left.’ Finn looked out the window, the cloud wasn’t far now. He heard the sound of rushing footsteps, soldiers, manning the walls, the fruits of several last-minute defense changes. ‘She’s really gotta stoop changing plans…’ Finn thought. Finn got out of the chair. He stumbled as he began to walk, ‘Jeez… sitting for hours really doesn’t do any good for my legs…’ Finn went over to the wall and picked up the Enchiridion. He looked at the page it had turned to. ‘Portals and Teleportation.’ He began to skim through the words on the page, ‘Sister dimensions… magical disruptions…’ His finger followed the words, ‘if used recklessly, damaging effects.’ His finger followed the words along the page, ‘Random locations or random teleportation.’ A tingling sensation in his arm began to etch its way into Finn’s feeling. He put the book down. He looked at the sleeve with trepidation. He reached his right arm and began to pull up the sleeve. It revealed the dark-green grass sword still around his left shoulder. Finn could see the black underneath begin to pulse. He shuddered. A knock at his door made him retract his arm. The sleeve fell. Finn was able to croak out a “Come in.” He already knew who it was. To no surprise on Finn’s part, it was Phoebe. She was awkwardly standing in the doorway “Hey Finn, I wanted to… see how you’re doing.” She paused, “So, Finn… how’re you doing?” She asked sheepishly. “I’m doing… as best as can be given the current circumstances.” Finn replied. Phoebe nodded, “There’s not much time left now.” She said sheepishly. She folded her arms. Finn looked over Phoebe, she wasn’t in her normal dark maroon battle armor, rather, she was in the sundress that she used to wear. “Feeling nostalgic or something?” Finn asked sarcastically. She looked over the dress and remembered a very fortuitous event that started with this specific dress. Her face began to burn up, “No!” Phoebe replied, slightly embarrassed, “It’s just… you can only wear armor for so long…” She explained. “Mhm…” Finn gave in reply suggestively. “Well, I was looking through the Enchiridion,” Finn began, “I found very little that could help save the Fire Kingdom.” Phoebe went over and sat on the bed the nearby bed. Finn decided to stay at the desk chair. “However,” He began, she visibly got brighter, “There is this portal spell that, if given enough time and thought, could help us escape to an alternate or sister dimension.” “Do you know how long it would take?” She asked with optimism. Finn looked at the book again, “I dunno, maybe fifteen minutes.” Finn continued reading. “Alright…” Phoebe started, “That’s good, I’m gonna-” “Why kiss me?” Finn interrupted, “I mean… we clearly broke up and all.” Pheobe’s face went redder, “Um,” She paused to think, “The concept of imminent death?” She offered. Finn nodded. Finn stood up and walked over to her, “That’s what I thought too,” Finn breathed, “But I’m pretty sure it’s that y-” A yell from outside interrupted him. “THEY’RE HERE!”