Finn awoke with the warm sun shining in his face. This was a special day for the young warrior, for today was his 18th birthday. The day where he was no longer a boy, but a full fledged adult, and he felt good. The boy jumped out of his sleeping bag and stretched, excited for the day to come. The air smelled of cooked eggs and bacon; Jake was cooking breakfast.
Descending down the ladder from the bedroom to where the kitchen was located, the boy saw the magical dog working over their stove, a smile on his face.
"Hey hey! Theres the birthday boy now!" His hands carried two plates holding a mountain of eggs with a layer of bacon covering them. His arms twisted and extended their way to the table, where the two quickly sat down next to each other. "Of course, I can't call ya a boy anymore. Today, you become a man!" He cheered, covering his plate with ketchup. Finn smiled and began to eat his way through his meal.
"Thanks man, that means a lot coming from you." The adventurer responded, shoveling his food into his mouth. Jake, now already finishing his food nodded.
"No problem dude." The dog wiped his mouth clean with the tablecloth as Finn did the same to his, their platters now clean and their stomachs full. "But now that you're an adult now, you're gonna have a lot more responsibilities. You're gonna have to look out for others, and not just yourself."
"Don't I already do that?"
"Yeah man, just messing with ya." The two laughed heartily, the reason the two lived together was because they got along so well with each other. What little they didn't have in common they resolved amongst themselves to avoid annoying the other. They were family to each other. One would look out for the other's back, and viceversa. Whenever danger loomed, the other would be right there to help fight. This was how they lived, and they loved every second of it.
"So what do ya wanna do today, brother?" Jake asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee. Finn stroked his chin in thought, he wanted to spend today the best way he knew how.
"I was hoping to pay Princess Bubblegum a visit if that's alright." Finn said after a minute. Jake smiled in between sips of his drink.
"It's not my call dude, you're an adult now, go to wherever your heart goes." He paused to put down his drink. "I was gonna spend the day cleaning up, then heading on over to Rainicorn's to see what she's up to."
"Alright man...wait, you clean?" Finn seem weirded out, he never knew Jake as one to suddenly clean house unless he had a valid reason. "You gonna invite Lady Rainicorn over later tonight?" He poked slyly at his canine friend, who laughed before scratching the back of his head.
"Yeah, I am. So see if Bubblegum can't have you over for the night! You're 18, and she's 23. You two have been friends for years, and nothing's been going on between you two! Get in the game, man!" Jake encouraged, causing the young man to blush solemnly.
"Don't make it sound like that! It's just...I don't know, I feel like...I feel like I don't want to mess up again. She's always seen me as this little child whose only worth her time to go on adventurers for her. I want her to see me as a man...and now she can!" He sounded more assured, raising his fist. "I'm a man now. I'm not that 13 year old silly boy anymore! I'm going to show her what I've become!"
"Yeah, that's the spirit dude! Now get over there and win her heart! And then all of her other internal organs!" The two bumped fists before the adventurer grabbed his gear and sprinted out the door towards the Candy Kingdom. Just before the boy was out of earshot, Jake leaned out the door.
"Make sure you bring protection!"
...
Finn stood in front of the vast gates entering into the Candy Kingdom. The walls made up of reinforced graham crackers and frosting made the city almost impenetrable, with a chocolate bar drawbridge for entry. The kingdom was alive and well, it's citizens going about their daily activities and chores. It was a good day to be out and about. Rising above all the houses and business, stood the Candy Castle, housing the hierarchy of the Candy Kingdom and it's workers.
Running up the flight of stairs leading up to the front doors to the castle, Finn knocked loudly on the wafer doors. A moment passed before the doors cracked open, and Peppermint Butler stuck his head out.
"Ah Finn! Good to see you! If you're looking for the Princess, she's in the throne room addressing to some current business, she won't take long." The candy butler opened the door for the adventurer and closed it behind them both. Now they both stood in the main hall of the castle, heavily decorated to fit the style and history of the Candy Kingdom's royal family. Rugs and carpets covered the marble floors, while paintings and armaments hung up on the walls. Each had their own plate depicting the item's history and value to the kingdom.
"Do you enjoy culture, Master Finn?" The butler asked inquiringly. "I think of it as a necessity really. Without culture, a civilization is just a bunch of warring husks. No minds, no joy. Nothing to amuse themselves with but bloodshed and their own primitive desires. Leaving their minds to waste, with their bodies soon after. Disgusting." The butler realized where he was again. "Oh, but look at me, babbling on like some sort of historian." The two arrived at another large pair of doors. "The Princess is through here, Master Finn. I must return to my butlerly duties now." He excused himself and wandered down another hall, leaving the warrior to his own.
Finn was familiar with most of the castle, being in it numerous times and occasionally exploring the inner recesses of it in his youth. The throne room was no acception. He had been in here many times before to meet the Princess, to receive assignments, and a few times when he crept in during royal meetings the Princess occasionally held.
Today, there was a couple of knights kneeing before the Princess of the Candy Kingdom, Princess Bubblegum. She and Finn had been friends since the boy had rescued her from an evil frost wizard almost a decade ago.
"It would seem rash to send away a unit of soldiers just to protect a rural colony, too suspicious. I'm going to send in a recon team to help overlook production and see if they can find out what's going on." The Princess said, addressing to the knights. The candy girl had matured now as she was becoming a full adult. She had taken on more responsibilities as Princess of the kingdom and was now in charge of even more important matters, such as sending aid to distressing villages, and declaring war.
"Yes, Your Highness. Shall we resume our duties protecting the gate as well?" On of the knights asked, looking up from his spot.
"As you wish, Sir Antony. Make it look like nothing's changed. Just in case someone or someTHING is out there." With a wave of her hands, the soldiers dismissed themselves and left the room. It was at this time that the Princess noticed Finn.
"Finn! What a lovely surprise!" She said, approaching the warrior. "I haven't seen you in days!" Finn chuckled nervously.
"Yeah well, I've been busy taking care of stuff. You know, the usual business." Bubblegum giggled.
"Yeah yeah, the USUAL business!" She gave a playful pat on the shoulder. "So what brings you to the kingdom today?"
"Well uh...just thought I'd come around you know, it's my birthday and al-"
"Oh glob! I forgot! Wait right here, Finn! I've got something for you!" The Princess said, flustered. She ran out through a side hallway and returned a few minutes later, holding a plate with a sheet over it. "It might not be much, but I do hope you like it..." She pulled off the cloth to reveal a neatly folded velvet tunic. "It's sort of a prototype chestguard I've been cooking up the past couple of weeks. I know you always go out on adventures and stuff, and...I worry that you don't like to wear armor an-"
"I love it, Princess. Thank you." Finn accepted the gift and threw it on. As soon as the fibers connected to his skin, blue bolts of electricity shot over the clothing, alerting the boy. "Whoa whoa whoa! What is this? Princess?" The pink girl smiled and nodded calmly.
"Good, I was hoping it'd be accustomed to you. This isn't just a tunic, Finn. I've modified it to enhance the skin cells in your body; as long as you wear this tunic, your skin is as strong as solid rock! You can withstand fire, swords, even small explosions!" The Princess seemed to become more excited the more she talked. "And this is just the prototype! Who knows what I might be able to create with more materials to work with! I could very well create an impervious suit of armor! NOTHING will be able to harm my warriors!" She caught her breath, calming herself down. Finn looked at her, freaked out by the sudden outburst.
"Ehehe, uh yeah. Thanks for the armor...?" The Princess snapped back to reality.
"Oh, of course Finn. It was my pleasure. But I would like to ask you something. The materials needed to help fabricate this kind of technology comes from a mine far off to the south. In there, there is this special kind of metal only found in scarce traces. My workers have been drilling and mining for months in this mine and have actually been able to accumulate a large amount of this element. Unfortunately, we lost contact with the miners a couple weeks back and are expecting the worse. I hate to send you into potential danger, but I desperately need this element to continue my research. Will you do it?"
Finn pulled out the collar of the fabric, it was soft, but durable.
"What's this element you keep talking about? What does it do?"
"This element doesn't exactly have a name yet. We discovered it doing some development along the southern swamplands. One of the miners came into contact with it and his body was instantly solidified!" The warrior seemed alerted by this news.
"How were you able to handle it? And why aren't I petrified?"
"We noted that what the prospector touched was a highly concentrated ore vein of the element. In smaller doses, it can actually adapt to surrounding organic matter, making it stronger without any undesirable side effects. So I embedded that concentration using some biotec fibers, hence the blue lighting, and put THOSE fibers into the stitching that make up that tunic you're wearing. Took us a number of tries to get it right though, and don't worry, we didn't test on any LIVE creatures."
"Are you afraid something might've happened to them? What are these swamps like?" The hero asked. Bubblegum suddenly looked concerned.
"The way to get them is no problem, it's getting in and out of the swamps that is hazardous. Think of it like this: theres fog everywhere, you're sweating so much everything on you is sticky. Theres bugs flying all around your face, and just when you think it can't get any worse, you step into something unpleasant. This can be one of two things; #1: Disgusting bog water filled with a bunch of microbacteria that will seep into any open wound or cut, and #2: barely noticable quicksand that'll suck you right in if there isn't anyone to help you. I can only imagine the horror one must feel dying like that. The last automated field reports sent back include them sending out a distress signal right before our communication signal went dead. This is why I'm concerned, not just for the miners, but for you too Finn." The Princess looked solemnly at the warrior. The tension in the room was thick.
"I'll go check on those people, PB. You can count on me." Finn said calmly. He was never personally fond of venturing into swamps, but there was never one he never made it out of. The Princess seem rejoiced by his response.
"Oh, thank you, Finn! But please, do be careful. I don't want to lose anymore people because of my bad calls. And well...I don't want to lose you either..." Her voice drifted off as she rubbed her shoulder timidly. Finn blushed, but nodded.
"I'll come back, Princess. I won't let anything get in my way." His voice carried enough assurance to calm the Princess down some.
"I trust you Finn, it's just whatever might be out there I don't trust. Just please, promise me you'll be careful."
"I will, PB. Your armor will help protect me." He smiled warmly. Bubblegum wiped back a tear as she walked over and gave the warrior a hug. The two's eyes locked for a moment. The current moment was sudden, not something Finn was expecting. The hero's mind frantically searched for a response to the situation.
On instinct, the hero leaned in closer, brushing his lips against the Princess's. The girl seemed surprised by the sudden approach, but returned the gesture nonetheless. The two were locked together for a moment, enjoying the warmth the other brought, hoping this wasn't the last time they would be able to share a moment like this. Finn pulled his head back, the two blushing mildly. He was proud of what he did. With a nod and turn, he strode out of the castle, the feeling of Bubblegum giving him the knowledge that someone else looked forward to his return.