Author's Note: Hey there, good reader. First of all, thanks for taking time to click on this story, really.

Now this is something big I wanna work on, and the plot has been inspired, and is not a direct and absolute copy, of one of the stories I've read. I can't remember the name mainly because I read it a long time ago, but it was a really really good story that got me hook with all this "Finn disappears, war rages in Ooo, evil rises etc. etc." Though it may seem cliche, that's fine, I won't judge the critic.

Oh and here's a fair note: There are no main OCs in this fic. You can figure it out later once you arrive to the next chapter. The planned pairing here is Finn and Bubblegum.

This first chapter starts off short, but in the future I'd focus on making them longer.

Update: I switched the rating to rated-M for the sake of the next chapters which contains gore and violence.

Disclaimer: I do not own Adventure Time, and it belongs to its legal and rightful owner.

So here we go. Read on, my friend.

At The Edge of Darkness

Chapter 1: Gone In The Light

What seemed like an innocent day was the day that Ooo took its turn into the worst. This was the start of it all, where everything just quickly transformed, where the first link of the chain reaction begins to unfold. This very day was something that evil had been waiting for in its time being swayed away by heroes, the day it had set its eyes upon and readied its true potential for,

A moment when the single candle in a dark room dies, and everything is engulfed in darkness until that candle lights once again...

0o0

Another dungeon-hunting trip and it was just as what the duo expected from any other of their dungeon hunts. Finn and Jake walked casually through this damp, stony, and torch-lit dungeon's halls with no fear just like it was another day in the life for them.

Finn wielded his grass sword which was seemed like a wrist-brace whenever it wasn't in use. It was his only weapon at the time and for a good reason. It may look like grass, but it cut cleanly more than any blade Finn had knew of.

Jake, Finn's brother and lifelong companion, had his own combat abilities such as stretching his canine body and becoming even larger than his opponents. Even with limited combat variety, these two were already half-way through the dungeon having defeated an army of undead assailants, demons, and a few dragons. They were experienced in quest and combat, and they were not ashamed to name themselves heroes of Ooo no matter how arrogant they may sound.

One can mistake their casual manner for valor, but in truth, they had absolutely no fear of the evil twisted creatures that made up some of Ooo's feared inhabitants. They lived in this land for years and with cherished memories, both had become acquainted to what may approach on the next corner, be it a villager, a noble, or even a monster.

Though the dungeon itself looked menacing as they travelled forward into the halls, not one bout of fear has caused their spine to tingle. The skulls placed like holiday decorations, skeletons that looked like they could come alive any second (which most of the time did), and the dim lighting and amount of darkness did not scare these two young beings. This was part of their life, and they never grew tired of it no matter how bored they may seem.

Their footsteps echoed in cadence as well as their small conversations unrelated to dungeon hunting. Instead of talking about warnings and combat, they simply conversed over smaller, trivial matters just like any other teenager would do.

"Man, after this dungeon do you wanna go visit Marceline?" Finn said. "I'm gonna try out the guitar we just got after getting past that weird-looking demon dude"

"Yeah, bro! Then we can try out the guitar's magical powers!" Jake said as he did an air-guitar.

"Yeah! That'd be really cool! It might go shoot these cool supersonic sound-waves that can blow someone's brains out!" Finn said in joy, imagining the very picture in his head.

"Ew, dude, a bit too gross" Jake said, disgusted by the same picture.

"Oh, sorry about that" Finn apologized. They then stopped in their tracks, and they now stood in front of a massive iron gate. "Man, look at this gate" Finn then looked around the room. "Think there's a puzzle that can open it?" Finn said as he spotted no keyhole on the gate.

The two were now inside a large, four cornered room. The room was all empty and there was nothing but the gate to grant progress.

The gate's doors were square and tall. From afar, the gate looked like a single metal slab with its top-end reaching out to the ceiling of this dungeon. The very metal on the gate was aged and rusty and it had been decorated with wind-like patterns that emerged from the sides. There was no keyhole at all, and despite having none, it still gave the two the impression that it was locked

The most remarkable feature of this old gate was the carve inscriptions on the metalwork. The written language looked runic, having sharp strokes and numerous dots which made it look like a somewhat complex language. The runic characters glow a distinct golden luster which stood out of the dull dark-grey metal of the gate. The shine had caught Jake's attention, and he began to inspect the carvings.

"Dude, check out these carvings" Jake then placed a paw on one of the characters, examining if its magic was activated by touch. Finn went beside him, leaning down to get a better look at the letters of this writing.

"Cool, what's it say?" Finn asked. He looked at the carvings and he too didn't understand them.

"Don't know man, but it looks ancient." Jake shrugged.

"How'd you know?" Finn then traced one character with his fingers. He felt an eerie resonance as he touched the perfect metalworking. "Dude, do you feel this weird feeling when you touch it?" Finn asked, worried that this was a trap and a possible machine or monster waited behind the ironwork of the doors. But if these two adventurers were lucky, they would have seen treasure once they open this gate and bring an end to this dungeon-hunting session.

"Nah, man, it just feels like there's…" Jake's voice was slowly cancelled out to Finn's ears. He started to hear loud whispers seeping out of the strange glow of the ancient writings. Jake continued speaking but it was as if he was muffled out from Finn's ears just so that he can hear these whispers. Since Jake was busy looking at the characters, he had no idea that Finn had looked stiff and pale.

"Sanguis valora arrivum" The voices whispered like they told Finn secrets. Three voices spoke at once, and it was dominantly male with a soft hush of a female. It sounded crystal clear and it had caused Finn's mind to pulsate with a sharp pain. His eyelids stretched as a reaction and his pupils widened as he started to feel a force overwhelm his mind.

"Sanguis valora arrivum" Finn recited in an emotionless monotonous voice. His tone disturbed Jake, causing him to stop mid-way as he spoke.

"Finn? What was that?" Jake asked in a concerned tone. He had placed a paw on Finn's right shoulder which caused him to snap out of the state of unconsciousness.

Finn shook his head quickly and gripped his forehead with his right hand as he felt a headache. His body started to feel strange to him, like a sense of numbness started to creep from his head down to his chest.

"Somebody whispered in my ear…" Finn fell on his knees in quick exhaustion. Jake reacted to his brother's sudden weakness by placing arms behind him. "I heard a spell" Finn said, his mind clearing out. He scratched his head, and he slowly stood up again.

"What it'd say?" Jake was worried, something was clearly not right and he knew that it was time to take the dungeon-hunt a bit more seriously now.

"I-I don't know… It's like I can't remember" Finn tried hard to remember, holding his forehead again and narrowing his eyes as he attempted to recall.

Both of them then looked as the gate as a sound of rusty bar-lock emerged. Finn sprang into action, standing in battle stance, revealing the true form of his grass sword, and slightly bending and spreading his knees.

"Get ready, whatever whispered to you is about to get free paste" Jake then enlarged his paws and pounded them towards each other. Combat was this serious when magic was involved, especially dark magic.

The gates opened, creaking a rusty metallic sound as the doors moved against the stone. A shaft of light shot out as the gate revealed its passage. The light further widened until it had dominated the torchlight and covered the two young beings in a window of bright white light.

"What the…" Jake said in a small fit of confusion. He was narrowing his eyes and had one of his arms shadow his face to shield him from the seemingly blinding brightness. "Must be some kind of light monster, dude."

Finn didn't respond to Jake. Normally, when Jake would beware him, they would take steps back and prepare for battle. But now, Finn stood still, out of battle stance. He stared at the light as if something else was gazing back at him.

Jake saw Finn's silhouette caught in the light; his first impression was that Finn was being cocky. "Finn, get ready, man! Who knows what might come out of that gate!" Jake shouted, slowly feeling fear for Finn as the boy acted strange. His warning hadn't shook Finn, and he still stood there, watching the light and making no response to Jake. Jake lost his patience and he rushed forward to take Finn in the middle of the light's projection. "Finn, quit being stupid!" Jake ran closer to him, enlarging his hand to be big enough to grab Finn in a snatch.

As Jake was about to have Finn in his grasp, a violent howling wind blasted out of the gate like hurricane, slamming Jake to the dungeon wall. The winds traveled against the whole room with a force that was enough to rip a tree from its roots. Jake was hurled at the dungeon wall and he had let out a small shout of pain as his back collided against the hard stone. "Finn, it's a trap!" Jake yelled again yet Finn still stood there, unresponsive and oblivious to Jake.

Jake was now out of the blinding light's projection and he could clearly see Finn stand firmly against both the wind and light. Strangely, Finn stood like as if there was no wind. His body was in a straight attention, like the winds had ignored him. His eyes were wide as if the light didn't blind him.

Jake attempted to stretch a long arm to take Finn, but then it was halted when the winds grew even stronger like it knew what Jake was doing, causing Jake's stretched arm to be suspended in mid-air as it pushed against the wind.

"Dude, don't do this!" Jake continued to yell him, but still, Finn was deaf in this unconscious state, and all he could hear were the voices now taking control over him.

Despite the howling winds, Jake started to hear Finn's voice echo in a strange whisper. He recited a spell, a spell that seemed to have casted both the winds and the light, and now was summoning whatever was supposed to come out of that gate.

"Sanguis valora arrivum. Malifuron vexilla aerus. Illuminaria valora legeius." Finn continued to recite these sentences again and again, becoming louder each time he cycled from the start. And as he recited, he began to take steps closer into the gate, like a moth drawn to a fire.

"No!" Jake then felt a rush of energy and courage as he saw his brother edge closer into the light. His stretched hands went further to rescue Finn from his possession. Jake struggled, growled and barred his teeth as he pushed his hands against the powerful winds with all his might to at least take any part of Finn that could pull him away.

Finn edged closer to the epicenter of the light and Jake's hands were already clawing as they were inches away from his collar. Jake was so near, and so close. His hands were inching nearer to Finn's back, and with just one more swipe, Jake could possibly grab Finn's collar to save him. He released all his strength to his arms and hands, challenging the winds and progressing through them an inch at a time.

Jake pushed his hardest, and with his right paw, was only able to take a hold of Finn's bear hat. Jake gripped hard at the first thing he could use to get a hold on Finn, but unfortunately, the hat slipped off his head and Finn hadn't noticed at all.

Jake frustratingly let go of the hat, remembering for a split-second that Finn never tightened it around his head. The bear hat spiraled around the room due to the winds. Jake continued going for Finn's collar as it was the part of his shirt that would be enough to pull him . Just one more small swipe of his paw and he could finally save Finn. One last push was what he did, hoping that this could at least grab any part of Finn that could pull him. He was already so near to saving Finn, Jake nearly had a good grip on Finn's collar, his last final swipe,

But then… it was already too late.

"Finn, no!" Jake shouted as loud as his voice and the wind allowed him . Finn had taken a final step into the light, and from there, the winds halted and the light faded, revealing only the dungeon wall. His silhouette disappeared along with the light, and Finn was nowhere to be seen.

Jake fell face-flat on the floor as the winds suddenly stopped, unable to safely land due to his exhaustion. He then got on his knees with his hands supporting him. He began to catch his breath, and slowly, looked up to see the gate, or in his mind, to see Finn.

But all he saw was the dungeon wall greeting him with gate doors open. The light was no more, and it turns out that behind the gate was just only a stone wall. It crossed in Jake's mind that Finn went through a portal which explains the light and it had taken Finn to another dimension— a dimension that could either rest inside or far-away from Ooo.

Jake quickly ran to the wall with the last of his remaining stamina, nearly tripping as he reached the gate. "Finn!" Jake shouted, hoping that Finn could hear him behind these walls, but to no avail. He sank to his knees in weakness and a heavy heart. "Oh no, man…" Jake shook his head, tears welling inside his eyes. "NO NO NO!" He swiftly stood up and pounded the wall again and again with his enlarged fists, but then they quickly shrank as Jake fell to his knees again, sliding his now shrunken paw at the wall in weakness. "No…" He mumbled, his voice merging with a sob.

0o0

And from that day on, Ooo was never the same again. Finn the Human was nowhere to be seen. No science and no magic can find him, not even the master wizards of Wizard City, Princess Bubblegum, or even Marceline could. His blood, DNA, and magical fingerprint just got erased ever since he went missing.

News of his disappearance was discreet, but secrets don't last too long in Ooo even with what was hidden in the next corner. Soon everyone will notice his disappearance, but Jake knew better to delay it, and with important secrets, he knew whom to trust.

Princess Bubblegum was the first to receive this news, and with her foresight, knew the dangers and consequences of losing Finn, of losing the strongest and most active hero the land of Ooo needed.

"Things are going to change" Princess Bubblegum would mumble without emotion. "Not just all of us, Ooo will change. Everything will change." She would say, and she was not mistaken at all. She was the second casualty of Finn's disappearance, and soon, there will be more victims than to be counted in fingers. Princess Bubblegum changed, and in turn, the Candy Kingdom changed as well, and this was just the beginning—the start of a new era for this realm.

He was missing, maybe for an eternity, but Jake believed with all his heart that he was not dead... He had hoped that somewhere out there, Finn was simply lost, and maybe one day, he will return in the time that he was needed the most, to save Ooo like he had done a hundred times.

But despite hopes of all his friends and prayers from those faithful, there was nothing that could stop what the land of Ooo was about to face…

Author's Note: Well, thanks for getting through with this chapter. Follow, favorite, and review if you want to. Const. Critics are welcome but flames are not appreciated.

Thanks again, and see you on the next chapter (That's if you come back).