I stood there, Unmoving. The darkness was creeping towards me but all I could do was watch. My legs wouldn't move a muscle. I couldn't bring my fists up to defend myself either.
I felt so helpless.
The darkness looked so menacing and cold. I could feel its hatred, its undeniable evil, and its lust for power. It was uttering words I couldn't understand and it kept getting closer and closer to me. All of a sudden, I saw the sight of a familiar bird fly into my view. It glanced at me from a distance and then let out a shriek. Its golden appearance was very distinct. As I was observing the strange creature, I felt my body suddenly become as cold as ice. It was so unbearably cold! I felt like I could never be warm again. I looked forward and realized the darkness was entering me. I tried with all my strength and will to fight against it but to no avail. I couldn't let this darkness overcome me but it was so overwhelmingly powerful! Suddenly, I felt a dull pain in my back and I cried out.
I awoke on the floor of my tree house in a panic.
"Bro! What happened!?" A familiar voice yelled. I quickly glanced at the direction of the voice. It was Jake. I calmed down and sighed a sigh of relief as I realized I was only dreaming.
"Oh, it was just a dream. A pretty strange one too..." I told him as he stretched down from his bed in the drawer and sat beside me.
"Man, you scared the bedonkers out of me! Must have been a real creepy one for you to yell like that."
"Yeah, it was! I don't know where I was at and, for some reason, I couldn't move at all! Also, there was this strange shadow monster thing that was coming towards me. I could tell it was evil, like, chaotic-evil probably. Then I got distracted by this weird bird that flew in…" I stopped mid-sentence as I suddenly realized something. The golden bird I saw wasn't just any old bird. It was the cosmic owl; a bird that enters dreams to foretell the future. I was sure of it!
For it to be in a dream like that…. I can't tell Jake, it'll just freak him out! I don't want to make him stress about it. Even though it's kinda making me worry a little. I mean the dream about Billy was pretty serious... Eh never mind that. I think it's probably best that I don't get myself all hung up over it.
"Bro, you alright?" Jake asked.
"Yeah, man, I'm fine. I just… forgot the rest. So, what are we having for breakfast?" I asked him, hoping to change the subject. The magical dog formed himself into a plate with the shape of bacon pancakes on top.
"Well, I was thinking of some bacon pancakes! I love those things! How bout it?"
"BMO wants bacon pancakes!" The little robot exclaimed as it entered the room.
"Yeah, sounds cool to me." I stated as I climbed out of my sleeping bag.
"Yay! That is good for BMO! I want them now!" It yelled excitedly as it jumped up and down. Jake stretched himself down to the kitchen, BMO happily tagging along. I laughed and grabbed my clothes off the floor.
That dream probably don't mean a thing. We've had dreams with the owl in them before and we misread their meanings. Like when I thought Jake had a croak dream and I got all worked up over it. Everything turned out just fine!
I nodded reassuringly to myself and changed out of my red onesie into my regular clothes. Then I walked over to the window and glanced outside. I stood at the window for a few minutes and took in the view. The morning sun felt particularly nice that day as its rays caressed my face. There was not a cloud in the sky to obstruct its light and it shined on everything I could see. I smiled. It was the perfect day to do some good ole' fashioned adventuring! We didn't have a chance to do much but chill at the tree house because of some bad weather. Playing BMO and sitting around was nice for a little while, but I was getting stir crazy. I needed some excitement! Like exploring dungeons, helping princesses, or kicking some monster butt!
I quickly grabbed my backpack, ran to the ladder that led to the kitchen, and climbed down it. My mouth began to water as I was immediately greeted by the distinct aroma of bacon and pancakes, which was one of my favorite foods to have for breakfast. Of course, my favorite food happened to be meat loaf which I didn't mind having at any meal of the day. I noticed BMO was sitting on the table, having a sword fight with himself using two butter knives.
"I will defeat you! You are no match for BMO!" The robot cried as it clashed the knives together. I laughed and stretched my arms out.
"Hey, Jake! After breakfast, let's go adventuring for a while! I'm sick of sitting around, ya know?"
"Heck yeah! I was thinking the exact same thing!" He agreed as he flipped some bacon pancakes onto a plate.
The thought of adventuring got me feeling pumped and I began thinking of the many places we could explore when the phone suddenly rang. I walked to the phone and picked it up.
"Helloo?"
"Finn? It's Princess Bubblegum. There's sort of a… problem." She answered in anxious tone.
"Oh, what's up PB?" I asked, twirling the phone cord between my fingers.
"Well, I need you and Jake to come to the castle so I can discuss it with you two. Can you leave right now?"
"Yeah, sure thing, PB. What's the trouble?"
"I'll tell you when you get here, ok? Just know that it's urgent."
"Alright, Princess! I'll sock whatever problem you have right in the face! You have my word!"
"Good and by the way, I've sent the morrow there so you can arrive faster."
"Alright, cool."
"See you soon." The Princess hung up the phone.
I frowned. When she was nervous about something, it was usually important but, what could be so urgent that she needed to see us immediately?
Well, whatever it is, I'm sure it's nothing that Jake and I can't handle!
"What wash at bout?" Jake asked as he was chewing a bite of food.
"P-Bubs needs to talk to us about something. Says it's important and that she sent that morrow bird to pick us up." I explained to him.
"Well, as long as I can-"His sentence was interrupted by a sudden, loud screech coming from outside. Jake slumped in his seat and groaned.
"Man! I wanted to have a nice, relaxing breakfast where I can eat my delicious bacon pancakes without having to rush or anything."
"Duty calls, dude!" I laughed as I went to open the door. He began mumbling to himself as he took another bite. I opened the door to see PB's personal candy servant, Peppermint Butler, seated on the morrow.
Peps was a very interesting candy person and somewhat secretive. I wasn't sure about what kind of biz he was into. I didn't know much about it, but I knew he had some sort of friendship with Death. (Which saved our butts one time) I also knew about several rumors having to do with his involvement in weird dark magic stuff. It didn't really matter to me, though. There weren't ever any problems that arose from his "activities" and he was a pretty nice guy. Also, he seemed to truly care about PB. So, that gained him cool points in my book.
"Hello, Finn! Ready to go?"
"Yup." I turned to Jake who had finished gulping down his food. "Let's get going, man! We gots things to do!"
"Alright, alright. I'm coming." He mumbled as he stretched himself to the bird. The large creature lowered itself for me when I approached and I climbed on. Its brown feathers felt surprisingly soft as they rubbed against my skin.
The bird began flapping it wings and took off into the air. The accent was a bit rough but when it reached a high enough distance from the ground, it leveled itself out. The morrow was supposed to be one of the fastest birds in Ooo and it definitely proved that fact as it gained more and more speed.
I looked out across the grassy land. It was such a shame that some were afraid of heights or flying. The experience was so exhilarating! There was just nothing like it. It would be pretty sweet if I had wings of my own. I could fly whenever I wanted!
When I was younger, I had actually tried to make wings for myself. I collected feathers and branches and stuck them together in the shape of wings using glue. I attached them to me with some rope and tried to jump out of a very tall tree, breaking both of my legs. After my legs healed and I made some adjustments to the wings, I ended up breaking them again on the second try. Jake and my broken limbs convinced me to stop after that. Hehehe… Good times…
"Hey, Peps!" Jake yelled over the wind from behind me. "What's this all about?" Peps was silent for a moment and then turned to us.
"Well… you'll see when you get there but, it's not good. I can tell you that." He sounded about as worried as PB, if not more. Yeesh, they need to relax. Whatever it is, we got it!
"We deal with a lot of not good things, ya know, and we'll deal with this not good thing!" I assured him. He glanced at me for a moment and then chuckled nervously.
"Ohh, I'm sure you will. You always do. Usually…." He sighed and turned back around.
"Well, Jake, sounds like we're gonna have a pretty interesting day, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess… wish I could've enjoyed my breakfast though…" He grumbled as he lied back on the bird. I smirked and turned forward. I noticed the Candy Kingdom come into view. Wow, this bird is fast! It usually takes us a good while to get to the Candy Kingdom on foot.
The bird slowed down when it closed in on the castle. It then flew to the balcony that over-looked the kingdom and landed. PB walked out onto the balcony as we hopped off. She was wearing her light blue lab coat that was blotched with several unknown stains. Her long, pink hair was tied up in a pony tail and she wasn't wearing her crown. She looked fatigued and judging by the bags under her eyes, she hadn't gotten much sleep.
Despite her exhausted appearance, she looked beautiful. Well, at least in my eyes she did. I was actually in love with her and her beauty for a period. I tried many times to get her to return the feelings, but it really was no use. She had no interest in me or anyone else for that matter. She was too invested in science and running her kingdom to have a relationship, I guess. So, I had to give her up.
It was difficult to let her go at first. Some nights I just cried myself to sleep. Jake tried to find me a new girl to help me get over her. That's how I met Flame Princess, the passionate and beautiful fire elemental. It felt like it was love at first sight when I met her. I don't want to get into too many details, but we dated for a while, I grew close to her, and then I screwed it all up because of some stupid dream. We got on good terms, I guess, but she made it clear that we were through. She was also busy running a newly overthrown Fire Kingdom and she had Cinnamon Bun, of all people, as her knight. Despite this, I still had some hope that we could get together again. Maybe someday… hopefully.
"Thanks for coming, you two. Come with me and I'll explain everything." She gestured for us to follow. We followed her till we reached the door of the infirmary a few hallways down. She stopped us at the door. She was silent for a moment. Her brows were furrowed in thought.
"Well… I guess I should tell you a few things before you go in there." She sighed and crossed her arms. "Breakfast Princess, Wildberry Princess, Slime Princess, Muscle Princess, and Toast Princess were kidnapped by the Ice King..."
"That's nothing new." Jake pointed out. "Crazy, old pervert…"
"You can say that again! Anyways, the Ice King decided to lock them in a cave he found for whatever reason. Inside the cave, they… discovered something." Her eyes fixated on the floor. "We're not quite sure what exactly it was. Peppermint Butler knows a little more about it than I do."
Peps smiled nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "Hehe, I don't know much about the subject… but I might know a bit about this situation I guess." He admitted. "Anyways, what they encountered was definitely something not of Ooo. It might be from the Nightosphere or maybe the Shadow Realm. Well, probably not the Shadow Realm…"
"What's the Shadow Realm?" I asked him. I heard him accidently mention the place before when I visited the castle. I asked him about it then, but he just shrugged the question off and changed the subject. He seems pretty uncomfortable about telling us about it even now.
"You've been to the Nightosphere, right?"
"Yeahhh, with Marceline! It's an interesting place, but it's a little too hot and not really any good eats. The only 'food' I found was the bananas…. ugh nasty." Jake shuddered in disgust.
"Well, the Shadow Realm is worse. MUCH worse. Only the most malicious, corrupted, and powerful of spirits and demons thrive there, but I'm pretty sure it didn't come from there. They can be summoned, but for only very short periods and their powers are pretty weakened. The only way for them to escape is for them to not be evil and they are the very definition of evil so… you know, unlikely."
"So, what do you think it is?" Jake asked him.
"Well, it could be anything. Also, the princesses have injuries that were caused by the use of dark magic and not any type of dark magic I've seen used by someone from Ooo."
"Wait, they're hurt? Are they in there? Are they ok?" I questioned him. An uncomfortable silence fell over the room. I glanced at PB who was sporting a very grim expression. She looked at me and I noticed tears forming at edge of her eyes. My heart sunk as I began to understand.
"T-they're ok, right?" I stuttered. I didn't want to ask. I was fearful of finding out the answer, but I had to know.
"Toast Princess, Slime Princess, and Muscle Princess have…" The Princess paused and took a deep breath. "They've passed away."
It felt like someone had punched me in the gut. Three princesses…. dead? I didn't know the princesses as well as I'd like, but I spent my life protecting and helping them. For them to just die like that… It seemed so unreal to me.
Bubblegum spoke up again. "Breakfast Princess somehow made it out. She escaped the cave and ran into some of my banana guards. They retrieved the other princesses and brought them here. She was in a lot of shock, but she managed to tell us all of what happened. She was unable to describe what exactly attacked them, though."
"So, she's alright?" I asked.
"She seems to be doing fine. Well, as fine as to be expected of someone who lost her sister..."
That's right. Toast Princess was her sister. Man, I understand what it's like to lose a family member. I lost my dad, Joshua. It was one of the toughest things Jake and I had to go through. I'm still not even sure how he died.
"Wildberry Princess on the other hand-"I suddenly heard a loud, bloodcurdling scream come from the infirmary. We immediately rushed into the room. When I entered the room, I saw Wildberry Princess thrashing violently around on the bed and Breakfast Princess was cowering in the corner.
"GET AWAY FROM ME! GO AWAY! SOMEONE HELP ME, PLEASE!" Wildberry cried at the top of her lungs. Bubblegum ran to her side and tried to calm her down, receiving a punch in the face from her flailing arms in the process.
"Jake! Hold her down!" She commanded him. Jake wrapped his arms around her body. She struggled against the constraints and began crying hysterically.
"No! Please! I don't want to die! Don't hurt me!" The princess begged. I ran to her side and attempted to calm her down.
"Wildberry Princess! Everything's ok! It's me Finn! Remember me? I'm the hero of Ooo and I'm here to protect you! See? I made a rhyme! Evil monsters don't rhyme so don't be afraid anymore!" As I talked to her, she began to stop struggling. She opened her eyes slowly. She blinked several times and then turned her eyes to me.
"F-Finn?"
"Yeah! You're safe now. There's nothing evil here so you can relax. You got Jake and me to donk up any baddies that would dare try to hurt you!" I promised her. I glanced at Jake and nodded for him to release her. He unraveled his arms from around her and placed them on the edge of the bed. She slowly sat up in her bed, wincing in pain. I noticed that her body was riddled with bruises and bandages. She looked awful and I'm sure the thrashing around didn't help.
What caused her to freak out so badly? Well, I know it has something to do with whatever they met in the cave, but what could be so terribly horrifying? I clenched my fists. And why would it do such awful things to them?
"Are you ok, Princess?" PB asked her.
"…. I don't know." Her crown slipped off her green stem at the top of her head. She looked down on the floor at it and started sobbing." It was so awful…" She began. "I watched them just die right in front of me. I-I tried to run and it a-attacked me." She wrapped her thin, green arms around herself and continued to sob.
I felt speechless as she sat there crying. I couldn't find the words to say to comfort her. What could I say? Everyone else in the room was silent as well. I placed my hand on her arm in an attempt to console her. She suddenly grabbed my wrist and held onto it tightly. She looked at me through her tears. Her pained expression changed into one of rage.
"You will kill it, right? You WILL destroy it! Tell me you will, Finn!" She clenched harder on my wrist. "Tell me you'll tear it to shreds! TELL ME RIGHT NOW THAT YOU WILL!" Her eyes looked as if there were about to burst into flames and I felt her shaking with anger. Tears were still falling down from her eyes.
I stood there in shock. It was very rare to see her like that. She usually seemed sweet and innocent, like she wouldn't dare harm even a little fly. Now she was demanding the death of the monster that dare cross her. I understood her anger, though. Someone evil had killed three princesses that I had sworn to protect. So, of course I was gonna defeat it! There was no way I was gonna let it hurt anyone else. I would have sworn my life on that!
"I will, Princess!" I promised her. She smiled at me and released my arm. She then rested back on the bed and closed her eyes.
"Make sure that you do."