The balcony overlooked the castle courtyard. The castle was protected by a moat of glowing orange lava that could only be crossed by the use of a metal were written on the metal bridge, wards against enchantments placed by the royal sorcerer. Nonetheless, two guards stood outside and two stood inside, all wielding halberds. An archer stood on top of the castle, his crossbow trained on the entrance. Phoebe was guarded by so many layers of protection, andbyet, she couldn't shake this hopeless feeling of dread.
She heard somebody behind her. She quickly turned around. Her eyes flamed and she prepared to cast a powerful flame spell. The intruder turned out to be Flint, her older brother and king of the flame kingdom at her side.
"Forgive me for my intrusion, Phoebe, but I had important matters to discuss with you."
"Are these matters that you couldn't discuss with me at dinner?" asked Phoebe as she let her flame spell fade.
"Indeed," said Flint. "This about the human boy you care for."
Phoebe was caught by surprised. She had wanted to patch things up with Finn for a while. She knew that he was going thrpugh a lot, and if she could help him...
"I figured that you would show interest," teases Flint. "My proposition is relation to his equipment. He wields a normal blade, but I've been doing my research on your elemental power. According to legend, the first flame elemental wieded a powerful sword. It is said that the sword was a representation of all fire just like he was. You don't show any interest in swordsmanship, sister, but I believe that we know someone who does. I also believe that if we were to present the sword to this person, they would seek particular favor in us."
Phoebe began to smile. Her chances with Finn were growing. "Do you know where the sword is?"
"It was found by the original flame king and passed down through the royal family. The last person to have it-"
"Was our father," finished Phoebe.
"The servants say that he had it hidden when he learned of your power. He bound their tongues with magic. Only he can tell us."
"Send a messanger to Finn's house. I'll start the interrogation." She was about to leave for her father's prison when a question struck her. "Why were you investigating my powers?" she asked from the doorway.
"To be completely blunt, I fear that conflict with the candy kingdom is ineveitable. Bonnibel's actilns grow more and more questionable. She would've destroyed the sleeping giants had those actually been them."
"But those weren't them," contested Phoebe. "They were just a bunch of bombs dad said were them. The real ones were hidden, the only clue to their location being an ancient riddle."
"Which we only found out later! The people still think that we are defensless. In fact, I'll think I shall begin trying to figure that riddle."
Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Some flames glow gold and others glow green. The collision of the two is a sight to be seen. Unless the flames collide by the elementals will, then the giants shall remain motionless and still. That was the riddle. If you truly are going to search for the giants, then do so with discretion. Otherwise, you'll start the war that you're trying to protect against."
And so Flint left with a small company to search for the giants, and a messanger was sent to the house of Finn and Jake.
Hunson sat on the throne of the Nightoshpere. Demons came up to him one by one. Sometimes he'd grant their request. Sometimes he wouldn't. Usually, he'd take his demonic form for such an occasion, but he was in his humanoid form now. He was bored, and the situation had lost all formality.
"Next!" He cried as the demon crawled away with legs for arms and arms for legs.
The next person in line was a woman with blue skin and blue hair that appeared to be wearing a pilot's outfit.
"Greetings Hunson," she said in an offsetting tone, "I am Patience St. Pim, Ice Elemental."
Hunson repeated the name in a mutter before asking, "Aren't you the one who froze yourself after everything went to crap? Well, Patience, how are you fairing these days?"
"Well," replied Patience, "I was about to freeze myself again when I realize that there were different opportunities for me to explore."
"Well, since you came all the way to Nightosphere and I'm guessing you killed a good number of demons to get this far in line, whatcha need?"
"I have a proposal," snickered Patience. "Have you ever heard of the Lich? You might not-"
"I know who he is. That psychopath wants to destroy all lower beings."
"Indeed," continued Pim. "As you might know, he was slain and defeated by Finn the Human. However, the essence of his existence still exist in the Realm of thr Living, which makes him viable for revival."
"Why would I want to revive that lunatic?" commented Hunson. "He wants to destroy all beings beneath us deities. That would sort of limit my soul intake."
"You misunderstand," said Pim. "I don't seek to serve him. If we were to revive him he would be completely under our control. With all if our powers combined, we could rule over all of Ooo and Mars and anywhere else for that matter."
"Interesting. Allow me to sleep on it. Guards, guide Mrs. Pim to a guest bed."
The guards walked Patience down the long hall behind Hunson's throne.
Betty looked around at those that surrounded her. She knew that the Glob was gone, and that Normal Man had no power. The forcefield around the dome had likely been destroyed.
I'll see how this plays out, she thought, and bail if it goes bad.
"Betty Grof," Normal Man began, gripping the wand in his hands tightly, "you are hereby charged with attempting to create a time paradox and sabatoging the saving of all of Ooo. Tell us, why have you done thse things."
Betty looked to the ground and said, "You know what it is like to lose the one you love."
"I see. So grief motivated your actions?"
"I knew it was stupid but followed my heart rather than my reasoning. Take from that what you will." Betty fought back tears, her voice cracking.
"Hmmmmm...," Normal Man began. "I'll tell you what, Betty. Because of you, I sit in this throne today. I hold great empathy towards you, but cannot allow you to try the same tactic again, so I shall give you some advice. Out there in the endless multiverse is a being known as Prismo. He is the Granter of Dreams, and will reform your universe to your greatest desire. I wish for you not to change time with you wish, for that has caused disasters in the past, but to use it to merely change Simon back. However, there is a catch. Prismo grants one request to every being in the multiverse, so you can only wish to turn Simon back or to keep him alive. Not only that, but the only way to get to Prismo is to collect all the crown jewels and put them into the cover of the Enchiridion, which sounds kind of difficult based on what's happened so far. Anyways, I bid you adew fair madame. Don't let me catch you here again. Well, I mean, you can come back to Mars, just don't end up being in a Martian trial again. Best of Luck!"
Normal Man held his wand above his head and, in a flash, Betty was back in Normal man's old house.
Finn sat at the table and stared into Jake's five eyes. Oddly enough, Jake's stretching abilities seemed to have improved from his transforming. For Finn's sake he had taken the shape of a dog. However, he seemed to be unable to change his color or the amount of eyes that he had. That, or he was unwilling. Despite his increased eyesight, Jake seemed to be unaware of Finn's uneasiness. Jake's attention was turned to his bacon-pancakes. As for Finn, his fork often missed his mouth.
Finn and Jake heard two horns from outside. One was strong and powerful, while the other was soft and could barely be heard over the first. Finn and Jake left their bacon pancakes at the table and answered the door. Two spherical people stood in the doorway. One of them was a candy person who was a gumball, and the other was a walking piece of coal from the Flame Kingdom.
"Her Royal Highness Princess Bonnibel wishes for Jake to present himself to her," said the gumball. "She said to bring the Enchiridion."
"Fine," said Jake. "And what about you little man?"
"Princess Phoebe summons the paladin Finn. Bring thy sword and other weapons."
Finn and Jake packed for their seperate journeys. Finn called for Fern to watch the house. Finn and Jake followed their envoys and eventually their paths diverged, one brother going to the Candy Kingdom and the other going to the Flame Kingdom.
