Never Feigning, Never Fading

CH 9

The sights and sounds of the commoners of the Kingdom of Jewels was a welcomed, familiar sight to Finn. He and Jake had seen the bright and, somewhat, flashy town and castle several times before when escorting Engagement Ring Princess back from the clutches on the inept Ice King. It had been sometime since the hero had seen the ring adorned princess and the reunion had helped put Flame Princess in a better standing with the ringed Princess and her brother.

The memory threatened to send Finn's blood a boil. He knew Flame Princess wouldn't need any help getting on Prince Bling's good side. The human wasn't sure if the glistening young prince was interested in the large red jewel that adorned Flame Princess' dress or…something else in that vicinity. Finn had nearly bitten his tongue off trying to stay silent as Prince Bling's eyes refused to move for nearly the entire meeting. Finn squeezed the soft, orange hand that he held in his own, taking joy in his private victory over the gaudy prince.

With the meeting over, the group agreed to split up, Finn serving as personal bodyguard while he and Flame Princess scouted the market place. The other elementals agreed to look into gathering supplies and to meet later at the lavish Inn they were offered lodging in.

The market was like any other bazaar the pair had seen in the many other kingdoms they'd visited. The only noticeable difference was the amount of merchants selling jewelry. Nearly a third of the merchants were selling various gold silver and gemstone wares, and nearly every citizen already had a glittering piece proudly upon their person.

Flame Princess dragged him from stall to stall, ever curious of the many things that her underground kingdom couldn't offer, from toys and knick knacks to food. After browsing and bartering she'd return to wherever the human was, linking their arms together. Ever since he revealed his croak dream to her she had been somewhat clingier. Although neither were sure about the status of their relationship Finn wasn't about to question or argue something that felt this good. So long as the sun was out and charging his fire ward he was just going to relax and enjoy his alone time with the blazing lady beside him.

Eventually the human spotted a building a ways off from the bazaar. The building seemed much more rustic then its neighbors, but still standing proud and tall. The most distinguishing feature was a wooden sign depicting a crystal ball. The human's face lit up.

"FP look a fortune teller!" Finn pointed to the building, remembering the matriarch's interest in such mystic arts.

"What, really?" Peering into the distance she spotted the building in question. She glanced to the man at her side. "Do you wanna go?"

"If you do…" She suggested sheepishly, feeling selfish already from dragging the poor human around all day,

"Sure!" This time the human took the lead despite not giving much belief in in such things.


The inside of the small house was dark but not dusty or dirty, with the tangy odor of unknown potions and mixtures filling the air. A lanky woman flittered here and there, grabbing various ingredients from the many shelves in the small room and returning to a center table where a pestle and mortar stood. The two guests watched as she made a few more passes like this before Flame Princess cleared her throat,

"Costumers?" The tall woman noticed with amazement, looking over the couple that sat in her shop. "I didn't think I'd get any today without being about to tell their fortunes."

"Wait, so you don't tell fortunes?" Flame Princess' mood deflated, her flames slowed their chippered movements.

"No my scrying crystal is out for repair, didn't you see the note on the door?"

The young couple exchanged confused glances, "There wasn't any sign out there…" Finn mentioned while squeezing the hand of the elemental in hopes of lifting her mood.

"I must have forgotten to put the silly thing up." The seer thought a loud as she cleared up her table of the various tools and ingredients. "Well come sit down you two." The woman offered as she removed the tablecloth from her table, revealing the table to be a rather large mirror. "I know couples usually come in looking to ask about their futures together, their future children and whatnot." She smiled as the two in front of her blushed.

"I don't know if-"Finn began but stopped when Flame Princess playfully elbowed him.

"Never say never." The elemental countered coyly.

"Well I'm sure I could show you something you'd be interested in."

After a few moments of contemplation Flame Princess' features lit up again. "Show me Finn when he was a baby!"

Finn wasn't one to believe in fate or destiny, but he already knew what the mirror was going to display. Glob wouldn't let him go so long without reminding him of his embarrassing past. He brought an open palm to his forehead, hiding his face as the mirror glowed and came to life.

Flame Princess watched in awe and silently cooed as she watched a chubby, baby Finn dance and sing in front of a bathroom mirror. The image faded as the song ended and all eyes were on the blond human who blushed brighter than the gem on Flame Princess' forehead.

"Cheer up," Flame Princess teased with a big grin on her face." It was cuter than when Jake made you do it for me a few years ago, only a bit cuter though."

Finn sensed the amount of fun she was having at his expense and settled for an eye for an eye. "How about showing me something from when FP was a baby?"

With a few waves of the seer's hands and a few cryptic words the mirror shone with magic energy once again, causing an image to slowly come into view.

Bellowing flames of a powerful explosion greeted the viewers as a slowly dying cry of anguish rang out. Finn gaped in confusion and amazement and the young lady at his side grimaced. Such a display couldn't have been a boon for the elemental's younger self. Silently wishing for the best she watched as the flames eventually died down revealing herself as an infant, crying defenseless in the center.

"Hey you were a little cutie FP." The human commented, hoping to brighten the troubled features of his friend.

It was like Flame Princess wasn't even in the same room as her eyes stayed glued to the mirror. She leaned in closer as the familiar voice of her father rang out.

"Bring that thing to the castle and try to keep it quiet!" The Flame King's deep voice boomed. A young elemental quickly followed orders, cradling the baby elemental gently in his arms.

Overwhelmed by her father's actions Flame Princess stood up, her hair and flames whipping wildly with rage.

"Whoa, calm down FP. Let's not torch the nice lady's shop." Finn stood and gently squeezed her shoulder in support.

"I'm sorry for my outburst… I must be going. Good day." Flame Princess apologized with her eyes cast down to her feet.

Finn nervously looked to the seer as the elemental could be heard leaving the building. "I'm sorry this is my fault, I knew her past was a touchy subject." The human rummaged through his pockets briefly, fetching a generous amount of gold coins for the old seer. "Thanks for everything" Finn waved before he rushed out of the small house before Flame Princess got too far away.


The rest of the day found the blazing woman in a seething meditation. As the members of their party slowly gathered one by one at the inn they were going to stay at for the night the queen of the Fire Kingdom stayed in her room. Anyone who came to inquire on her condition was met with stoic reassurance from a barely ajar door.

Finn only being a few doors away, kept an eye and ear out for her as the sun slowly began to set. The hero had already checked on her multiple times and got little in response aside from a dismissive "I'm fine". Sensitive, emotional situations like this were way out of the human's element and sitting around trying to think of ways to cheer up the woman whose frown had been breaking his heart for nearly the whole day.

The sound of a door opening and a moving light in the dim hallway caught Finn's attention, causing him to get up from his bed in a rush in order to scope the hallway.

As he had hoped it was Flame Princess who strolled down the hall. Her demeanor didn't seem to have lifted at all unfortunately. Her bangs hid most of her face as she kept her gaze to the floor. Her normal dress was replaced with a long nightgown, made of the same fiery orange material the young queen learned how to manipulate long ago. Finn meant to say something as her eyes met his momentarily, but they became caught in his throat along with his heart.

There was almost never a moment where the human questioned the young woman's beauty but the moments like this where he really go to take her in like this always froze him in his tracks.

The hero didn't come to until Flame Princess passed him by without another word or glance.

"Still not ready to talk?" Hurt, Finn decided for a more direct approach.

"I think I need to talk with Sol, that's all."

"I really can't do anything for you?"

"Not this time Finn."

A little more heartbroken the blond man watched as with a few gentle knocks she was ushered into Sol's room.


Sol offered a seat on his bed as he took survey of his queen. He knew of her current mood, but also knew her well enough not to bother her and that she'd talk when she was ready. He also took note of her attire; it was always a spectacle to see his queen exercising her unique powers.

"Anything I can do for you my queen?" Sol broke the resounding silence that filled the room.

Although she knew she was entitled to every bit of information she was asking for, Flame Princess decided to start from the beginning.

"While we were out today Finn and I came across a fortune tell- or a seer rather."

"Did she foresee something terrible in our future?"

"No, she was short on supplies and could only show us parts of our past."

"And" The knight's eyes widened in curiosity.

"I want to know about my birth. What made my father call me a "thing" and why were you there?" Flame Princess recalled seeing a young Sol caring for her in the seer's vision.

Sol sighed, closing his eyes and recalling the incident. "It all started with news of an outsider invading the Fire Kingdom. Although I was still a knight in training I was called forth to be part of a team to investigate one of the only leads we had on the trespasser."


The door of the old hut was kicked in and four Fire Knights cautiously file in one by one. As it became more apparent that their target wasn't present they split up to investigate the clutter of the small building.

"Hey check this out!" Sol, the youngest and smallest out of the team called out to the others as he investigated a corner of trash. The stern leader of the troop approached and towered over the young knight. "What did you find Sol?"

"Armor sir, it our standard issued stuff too."

"Hmmm… so this confirms our suspicions then. Sol I want you to report your findings back to Sir Firionel. The rest of us will stay here in case in case our visitor comes back."

"Yes sir!" Sol stood and saluted his superior before jetting out of the small shack, back towards the castle. The excitement of his job shifted to fear as he noticed the perimeter guards weren't at their post. A commotion could be heard from within the castle walls Sol ran in, drawing his sword and doing his best to survey the situation.

Others stood with their weapons drawn as they carefully watched robed woman stand ready for another knight to step forward. She flipped her long red hair behind her shoulder, her mouth turned to a dark smile.

A pair stepped forward unleashing torrents of flames from their hands which the woman met with her own stream of unnatural green flame.

"She's trying to out fire a Fire Knight?" Sol asked one of his fellow knights.

"We aren't sure. This sorceress must have something else in store for us if she truly is responsible for the deaths of our brethren there must be something we're not seeing."

Sol nodded and doubled his efforts observing the fight. The sorceress was of a race that the young knight had never seen before. She was like the hero Billy, standing tall with ashen grey skin. On her forehead, as well as several pieces of her jewelry were bright red jewels that shone a magical light.

The fighting knights moaned, sank to their knees and writhed before their forms dissipated leaving only empty suits of armor. The sorceress' gems grew with a blinding light for a moment before the woman stood tall and victorious.

"Listen up, my little fire flies," She called out with husky voice dripping with an unknown danger," you can either bring forth your strongest warriors or you can each suffer the fate of these two."

"Enough of your games, witch!" A new voice boomed from above. A voice that, once recognized, cause all the knights to humbly drop to one knee.

Landing before the sorceress was none other than the Flame King himself. "If you seek the strongest in my kingdom I have no other choice but then to answer your call." The King wasted no time in charging a blast of flame and throwing to the witch. The fire disappeared as soon as it reached the grey woman's outstretched palm.

"The Fire King? I would be honored to add your matrix to my collection if you'd be so kind…"

The Fire King only grunted and began firing a barrage of quick fire balls at his opponent. The sorceress was quick on her feet however, dancing and circling her opponent. When it became clear he wasn't going to hit her this way the Fire King changes his tactics slightly, aiming at her feet .If she was going to dance around him he was going to take away the good ground to do it on.

Eventually his gamble paid off and the woman tumbled to the ground. She still grinned as the king approached with a palm of flame.

"There is no flame that I cannot tame." She taunted with a green flame enveloping her hand.

"You are a fool if you think you have a vessel that can hold my flame." The King let forth a fearsome jet a flame which was easily absorbed by the red haired pyromancer.

"More! Give me more power!" She cackled with a demented glee.

"As you wish…" the now furious Fire King grunted. The stream of fire transformed to blinding white light as he unleashed his soul fire.

The cackling laughter grew louder and many knights were forced to look away from the light of the battle. No one swathe explosion of the sorceress coming and left even the Fire King dazed on his back.

There was a brief calm after the explosion and the silence was eventually cut by the ringing of a baby's cry. As the knights slowly regained their bearings they surrounded and checked on their fallen and exhausted king.

"I'm fine you fools…help me to the castle." The Fire King ordered between labored breaths and the crowd of knights obligated. "Someone bring that thing to the castle and try to keep it quiet!"

Sol, bringing up the tail of the knights, ran back to retrieve the baby fire elemental. He studied her odd features and the gem that adorned her forehead for a moment before gently rocking her and pleading with her to stop crying.


"No one could figure out what exactly happened that day…" Sol continued, looking into the eyes of a deeply concerned Flame Princess. "We knew that you carried part of your father's strong matrix within you. And when he realized there was no getting that strength back from you he decided to keep you. Almost as one part daughter and one part trophy from a tremendous battle. Eventually we learned of your matrix and you became more of a trophy to him." Sol ended his story, his voice low and sullen.

"Thank you for the truth Sol. I really needed to know all this." Flame Princess nodded to her knight, grateful but just as sullen.

"Are you sure you're alright my queen?"

Flame Princess stood at his door and swallowed hard. "I think I'll be alright… goodnight Sol."

"Goodnight my queen."

Returning to her dark room Flame Princess cradled herself on her bed. New, depressing thoughts buzzed inside her mind and she wondered how she'd even get to sleep that night,

And why her flames weren't enough to keep her warm at the moment.


Finn had risen with the sun, a habit he had developed when he was living wish Jake and that never failed him so long as he got to bed at a decent hour. The lovely image the Flame Queen had filled his dreams all night and he had a stronger desire to bring a smile to her face. He wasn't the best at romantic gestures however and his ideas were scarce when you were dealing with someone who didn't need to eat.

Maybe a walk in the early sunrise would be more up her alley. After all it was a sight that was bright a beautiful, just like her. Satisfied with his plan the human smiled a goofy grin and quietly exited his room.

"You awake FP?" Finn knocked on her door lightly; he gave a heavy sigh when he received no answer. Perhaps he would have to wait for another day to ask her out. The worry from the previous day wormed back into his brain, and although Jake had warned him never to go into a lady's room uninvited Finn convinced himself just checking up on her couldn't hurt. He was her bodyguard after all.

Inside was a sight the human was only treated to a handful of times. The Queen of the Fire Kingdom lay peacefully as an angel in her bed. Her soft, rhythmic breathing seemed to hypnotize the human and beckoned him to come closer. Finn gazed down to her warmly, brushing aside a few stray hairs that lay across her face. He pulled his hand back with a concerned grimace across his features.

Even with his ward on he should be feeling more of her warmth than this. Her flames did seem kind of small as well. "FP? FP are you alright?"

As much as he shook her sleeping form he didn't receive an answer.


AN: Sorry for the super late update again, even after the holidays I find myself with a bunch to do. It's not gonna get any easier either as I had an Internship starting in a week. I'll try to make one update a week but I can't promise anything. Random fact: In the Adventure Time Comic "Playing with Fire" FP eats and cries. It's hard writing Fire Elementals sometimes since their rules aren't fully established, I mean in that one episode the Fire King had a cook right? But that's the cool thing about Adventure Time, you can do just about anything because the world is so crazy and free. In my head cannon FP is a very special elemental with a different origin, as shown by this chapter.

Anyway I've rambled long enough. I hope you enjoy.

In the next chapter: Stop Finn, you've been through plenty of tough situations like this, you won't mess up this time. But if I don't want to lose her I need to calm down and get a grip on myself… but where in the world am I going to get Soul Spice?