Some like it hot...
The ground beneath Finn's feet was steaming, the hot air tearing his lungs. The water had long dried from Finn's body, his own supply he had been carrying quickly exhausted by his quenching thirst. The door was right before him, it quickly parting open as Finn approached and entered. Just as he had entered, he quickly caught sight of a large flame elemental, dressed in ornate armor, sitting on a equally large throne just before a minuscule fire creature who Finn immediately recognized as Flambo . Just above him, and much to his shock and dismay, rested the flame princess in her glass chamber, who was in a lethargic mood, her head and body rested on the inner walls of her chamber. She appeared too weary to take notice of Finn's sudden entrance. The Flame King, however, quickly took notice and drew his hand forward and ceased his jester's performance.
"Flambo!" Finn cried out.
The little flame creature turned around and illuminated at the sight of his good friend Finn.
"Finn buddy, how goes it?" Flambo retorted.
The King cut the reunion short and brushed Flambo to the side. The king peered forward, an unpleasant and vexed look across his fiery face.
"What bringeth you here again, 'Prince Finn?' Or should I even call you that?" the King voiced.
"I uh," Finn stuttered before he realized Jake's previous venture to the fire kingdom. "I uh cometh for the fire creature Flambo!"
"My royal jester? Never!"
"What!"
"First you come to court my daughter, only to break her heart. Now you come to take my Royal Jester away. I think not!"
"Listen, you old burnt out piece of charcoal! I didn't break FP's heart. I still want her and if you don't let me take Flambo away then we can never be together!"
The outburst echoed thru the halls of the palace and caught the attention of the weary Flame Princess overhead, who immediately peered down to her amazement at Finn's presence.
"Finn?" Flame Princess said.
Finn became flustered, his reddened face becoming even redder at his cheeks at the sound of FP's voice.
"Oh hey FP..." Finn managed to muster.
"Silence!" The King interjected. "You dare impose will upon my kingdom! You shall suffer for your insolence!"
The king stood up, his towering frame dwarfing Finn's. His fiery exterior quicken took on a harsher red and became static in appearance. Finn was taken aback by the sudden flare of light radiating off the king's body.
"Daddy no!" cried the Flame Princess.
Finn drew his father's sword forward, his hands tight, his eyes focused for battle.
"Oh yeah, bring it!"
Flambo quickly scurried away as the king drew his left hand forward from which a small stream of fire erupted and struck the top of the sword. The sword quickly became alight, it's red hue glimmering brilliantly. Finn dropped the sword in pain, his hands seared to a crisp.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Finn cried before hastily blew at his crisp hands.
The king proceeded again with another attack, this time quickly drawing both his hands forward and delivering a massive stream of flame towards Finn. He leapt to the side, his palms breaking his fall onto the hot ground. It didn't take long for Finn to feel the searing pain across his palms and he jumped off the floor crying in pain, tears streaming from his eyes. The king was dumbstruck by the sudden appearance of water streaming from Finn's eyes.
"A water elemental!" The king stammered,"and you wished to court my daughter!"
Finn crunched his teeth in frustration,"I'm not a water elemental! I'm a human!" Finn quickly brushed the tears from his face. They rushed forward thru the air and struck the king in the face.
"Ahh!" The king cried out in pain as he stumbled back and drew his hands to his face.
The sight of steam rising from the king's face immediately reminded Finn of FP when he had witnessed her reaction to touching water and discovering her species' aversion to it.
"Hey that's right!"
Finn drew his hand to his cheek feeling for what tears remained. He felt the wet stream and immediately flung what he could at the king. Quick puffs of steam erupted all over the king's body. The king ,in response, drew the armored parts of his arms across his face in hasty attempt to shield himself from Finn's watery projectiles.
"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" Finn shouted as he continued swatting more of his tears at the flame king. His advantage was short-lied as the blistering heat of the room dried away the remnants of Finn's tears.
"Oh man," Finn said as he brushed his hands across his dry barren cheeks.
The king, upon realizing the pelting had ceased, drew his hands downward and peered towards Finn. It didn't take long for him to realize Finn had exhausted his advantage and the battle had turned to his favor. He drew his arms above his head, a little ball of flame hovering just between his hands. It grew in size and radiance, it's destructive potential reflecting the amount of hate the king had for Finn.
"Be gone with you!" The king roared as he readied to throw his projectile.
"I don't think so!" said a voice.
Finn turned around and saw a giant sized Jake in the shape of butterfly. He flapped his massive wings at the king, the gusts of wind throwing him off balance. The projectile dissipated as the kings flew backwards from the flurry of wind blasting him. Jake shrunk down and looked at an exhausted Finn.
"Man, I should of thought of this last time!" Jake said.
"Jake! You did it! You beat the Flame King!" Finn cried out in joy.
The celebration didn't last long, as the other half of the room erupted in flame. The king's body lost it's corporeal form and assumed a massive wave of flame with his distinctive eyes in face in the middle.
"I will KILL YOU!" roared the king.
Jake in horror left his butterfly form and fell into the arms of an equally shocked Finn as the two coward before the king. The Flame Princess pressed against the glass of her chamber, watching in horror as her father prepared to torch the two.
"Daddy no!" cried the flame princess.
The king did not heed his daughter's words. Flame Princess bit her lip before the floor of her chamber with frustration. Her body burst into a static flame form and grew in size, her chamber quickly breaking before her might. The princess fell to the ground, her body just in between her father and finn. She continued to grow until her fiery frame towered over her father's.
"Daddy stop this! Now!" Flame Princess bellowed at her father.
The king cowered back, gasping at his daughter's might. He'd long known of her destructive potential, not just her ability to warp his people into flame creatures (which was really the excuse he needed to lock her away in her glass chamber), but that she could potentially threaten his rule at such an early age. He changed back into his original form and stood before his enraged daughter.
"Uh, daughter! I didn't mean it! I uh.." the king was at a loss for words.
"Dad get out of here and don't come back until I so," Flame Princess said stringently to her father.
The king ,having no choice, gave one last menacing look at Finn before bursting into quick trail of flame away.
Finn looked weakly at FP with a slight smile across his face. FP, getting past the anger she had for Finn returning, smiled back, happy knowing he was safe.
"Finn" she said.
"Thanks...FP.." Finn coughed haggardly. Jake jumped from his arms and shapeshifted back into a butterfly.
"Oh man, we gotta you out of here!" said Jake as he hovered just at Finn's face.
"No! Not without what I came for!" Finn said. "Flambo!"
Flambo, who for the most part hid behind the most protective wall he could find from the battle, peered his head outward.
"Oh hey yuz guys!"
"Nice of you to help out, Flambo," said Jake bitterly. "Now, Flambo quick cast flame shield on Finn fast!"
"Hey you can't boss me around! Give me one good reason why I should?"
"Cuz if you don't he'll die!"
"Oh yeahz..." said Flambo as he scurried toward Finn. He drew his hands forward and motioned side to side as he chanted his spell. Flambo finished the chant by hacking up a glob of his spit onto Finn's forehead.
"Ow, what the?" Finn said in confusion.
Suddenly a bluish aura quickly enveloped Finn, his natural peach skin taking on a solid blue.
"Therez, I cast flame shields on yuz."
"Did it work?"
Finn cautiously drew his hand toward the ground. He let it hover a bit before he took the courage to press it firmly onto the ground. To his exuberance, he did not reel back in pain, the ground felt as any floor would at his home. Finn jumped repeatedly in joy while Flambo took the moment to cast flame shield again on Jake. The Flame Princess ,meanwhile, had been watching the whole incident in complete ignorance. What exactly had her father's jester done to make Finn so celebratory, she wondered? Finn peered his head upwards toward the flame princess with a grand smile across his face.
"I did it FP! We can be together! We can be together!"
Those last three words struck an unpleasant chord within the princess. A frown drew across her face and she immediately shrunk down to her original form. She looked at the ecstatic Finn before she spoke.
"Finn, no." The flame princess left from Finn's sight.
Finn froze in mid-air, a cracking of glass ran thru him, his heart broken in two. "Finn, no." The words rang again and again in Finn's head, bringing back haunting memories of when PB had broken his heart. Was it happening again? No, it couldn't be happening again, Finn thought. He looked at Jake and flambo, his jaw still dropped from FP's departure.
"Uh Jake...what do I do?"
Jake shook his head, he'd long been in defense of Finn not pairing with the Flame Princess, but the glimmer in Finn's eyes, just when PB too had foregone Finn, changed his mind.
"Go, go after her Finn!" Jake barked.
"Yeahz, go after that skirt," Flambo cheered.
Finn turned his head in the direction where FP had gone and scurried off after her. He past royal guards and a number of confused and awed servants he tried to catch up with FP. The flame princess had retreated back into the palace's garden, she finding reflective peace amongst bridge above a molten garden. She rested her head and arms at the bridge's railing, peering over at the streaming lava beneath.
"FP! FP!" yelled Finn as he stopped just before her.
She hesitantly looked over, not wanting to fluster herself with emotion as she had done before.
"Finn, I told you we can't be together. We're opposites."
"No, FP you don't understand I can take it now!"
"Oh Finn," the flame princess shook her head with a sigh."You just don't get it, we're opposites. We don't belong together, we're only going to hurt each other like before."
"We're not opposites! I'm not a water elemental, I'm a human. A HUMAN."
"Hu-man?"
"Yeah, and that water coming form my eyes were just tears, because I was sad."
"Fine, you might not be a water elemental but you couldn't stand my flame. It brought you pain and you pushed me back."
"No FP, look!" Finn grabbed and lifted the princess's hand."See I can take it now."
The flame princess's staunch look became even more agitated. She pulled her hand away from Finn's and proceeded to walk away.
"Finn...just leave me alone."
"Finn wha...?" Finn stammered for words. This couldn't be happening, not again. He looked back and forth, thinking repeatedly of what to do but his mind was too confounded with emotion to think of anything coherent. It was then, instead, his heart took over for the brain and he suddenly found himself intuitively rushing toward FP. He hastily grabbed her hand and pulled her toward him. What was he doing?
"Finn wha-" FP's words were cut short by something suddenly pressing itself firmly onto her mouth: Finn's lips. A part of FP resisted at first, wanting to throw Finn back ,but that was quickly hushed away as she drew Finn closer in an embrace. Her beating heart lightened her vibrant flame and it glistened ever radiantly. The brightness caught the attention of a number of servants who curiously looked and awed at the gesture of young love.
A few seconds passed more before FP slightly drew back from Finn, her eyes glimmering brilliantly.
"Finn... your my prince," the words barely escaped FP's mouth.
The watching crowd gave an awe at the princess's gesture.
"STOP WHISPERING!"
