MMH: What's this? Can it be that I'm returning to my old schedule? IMPOSSIBLE! This chapter was going to be longer, but I decided to break it up. That means a new chapter next week! Woot woot. I also got a tumblr. Well, I've had a tumblr, but I've just gotten around to seriously getting into it. Also ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!
Marshall: *bursts in* What the fuck, woman?!
MMH: Oh, it's you again.
Marshall: Where the hell am I?
MMH: *looks confused* You're here.
Marshall: NO. In the story! I've been missing for, like, a billion chapters!
MMH: You've been missing for three, ya big baby. And you're in this one.
Marshall: I am?!
MMH: Don't forget to favorite if you like it and review no matter what!
I followed Sun to where he said he saw the light and we parted the bushes to reveal an open field with the sun shining down. I felt myself grin and let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank glob, light!" I cheered and raced out of the forest with Sun followed close behind. After a brief celebration of being out of that scary forest I pulled the map from my backpack and briefly looked around at my surroundings. "Let's see, we just left that forest here so that means we're here. It seems that the best path to the mountain is over there." I pointed not really paying attention and Sun looked where my finger was pointed.
"What's that?" he asked. My head jerked towards where I was pointing to see a horde of tiny goblins surrounding a couple of elderly men not too far away. The goblins were holding spears and gabbing at the men, but thankfully they never hit them.
"Don't kill those old men!" Sun and I raced towards the goblins whose attention was now turned on us. The old men, one with a blue hat and one with a red, ran towards us and hid behind Sun's huge frame. Since the goblins were tiny Sun and I simply kicked them until they ran away. Well, I kicked, Sun punted. Once the goblins were out of sight we turned to the old men to see that they were glaring at us.
"Get away from us." The one with the red hat spat.
"What? We were just trying to help." Sun said as he tilted his head confused. I was confused too. Hadn't we just saved their wrinkly old asses?
"Well we don't need it!"
"But you hid behind us in fear!"
"It doesn't matter. If we don't die now we'll die later when you aren't here." The one in the blue hat sighed. With a snap of their fingers they disappeared into smoke and drifted away.
"What jerks." I muttered and put my hands on my hips as I watched the smoke dissipate.
"Why didn't they do that while they were being attacked?" Sun asked.
"I dunno. Let's go." We eventually found the path up the mountain and began our ascent without another word. The soft green grass surely tickled Sun's giant feet as he walked along beside me. The temperature dropped slightly as we climbed up the mountain, but not nearly as much as it had when the fog surprised us. Two bluebirds flew above us and chittered happily along their way back to their nest.
Despite that it was quiet between us, I smiled at the thought that Sun had calmed down and seemingly had forgotten why he was mad at me. I didn't want to risk him getting angry again, but I had to apologize for my behavior when Marshall left. He was probably just as lonely as I was and I moped around in bed ignoring him. He probably felt forgotten.
"I'm sorry I haven't spent so much time with you lately." I mumbled and for a moment I was convinced that he hadn't heard me. Sun focused on the grass beneath his feet as he continued to walk and he sighed heavily.
"It's fine. I know that you're upset Dad's missing because I'm upset too. I know that that Flame Prince makes you feel special, but he'll come back. I just know it." I wish I had your certainty. I shook my head of that thought. I had no reason to be thinking the way I was. Marshall said he'd be back, he just wasn't yet. He had no reason to leave permanently. Why was I being such an idiot?
We reached the top to see a large entrance along the side of the mountain. Another cave. Whoohoo. At least this time is wasn't nearly as dark. We could quite easily see a large, grey castle looming about inside. Sun and I stepped toward the castle to see a blue lump slumped in front of the castle entrance. A blue lump we had certainly seen before.
"Key-per?" I asked. The old man jumped out of his slumber and looked to me with a sleepy grin. "How the glob did you get here before us?"
"Secret passage." He yawned as he slowly stood and rubbed his back gently.
"You're not gonna ask us another riddle are you?" Sun whined.
"Nope. Just knock on the door." Sun and I looked at each other before shrugging. I rapped my knuckles against the old wooden door and not two seconds later it swung open to reveal a giant muscular figure with dark orange skin and long hooked horns towering over me. I say only "me" because Sun and him were the same height and could look each other in the eye.
"I'm Mannish Man the minotaur!"
"Hello." Sun said politely.
"Sup." I nodded my head awkwardly. Sun certainly had become a gentleman after his etiquette lessons with Marshall. If… when Marshall gets back, I need him to teach me some manners.
"Congratulations, you two have made it to Mount Cragdor!" he announced as if it was a big accomplishment. How many people had tried to get this before me? Was it really a big deal or something? I knew it was a sort of guidebook for heroes, but was I literally the only one who could find it?
"Is the Enchiridion here?" I asked.
"Of course!" he said as if he had forgotten something. The door slammed shut and a moment later the minotaur returned with a worn brown book in his thick, calloused hands. On the cover jewels circled around a bird, grapes, a sword, and a skull and two shields were below it. Mannish Man stooped down and held it out for me to take. I hesitantly reached out to it and slowly wrapped my fingers around the sides of the book.
"That's it?" I questioned. The minotaur nodded and shrugged his shoulders. That was rather anticlimactic. I turned to Sun with a giant grin and held it out for him to see. He looked down at me nervously.
"I don't need to see it. It's yours." He looked to the ground shyly and picked at his nails.
"No way, bud. It's ours. We both came here so we can share it." Sun smiled and I carefully put the old book into my backpack.
"I'll show you the secret passage. It's way easier than climbing back down that mountain." Mannish Man offered. Sun and I gladly accepted and the three of us along with the Key-per continued further into the cave to reveal a narrow, winding path. We continued along the way and something in my mind kept distracting me from being happy. Despite that I had accomplished my mission as well as got Sun not mad at me I couldn't shake it. I picked up the pace to catch up with Mannish Man and walked beside him.
"Can I ask you something?" I asked uncertainly.
"Sure."
"What was in the fog wasn't real, right?"
"The fog in the forest shows what clouds your mind. They are what you need to conquer in order to continue being a good hero. They are only illusions, nothing more." He smiled.
"Good to know." I thought of all the things relating to what happened in the fog. Me being guilty over the Ice Queen, Flame Prince trying to date me, and Marshall being MIA; that sounds about right. "Were those old men illusions too?"
"No, but they were part of your test too. Sometimes heroes like us don't get gratitude after helping, but we have to continue helping anyway." He continued and I sighed as I thought back to the princes. Trust me; I've had a lot of experience with that. Mannish Man was right though. Just because I didn't receive gratitude didn't necessarily mean I should hold a grudge about it.
"Want to know what my riddle meant for the test?" the small old man piped up excitedly behind me.
"I thought it was just supposed to show cleverness." I said and turned back to look at him. The Key-per's face fell slightly.
"Yeah…" The four of us continued deeper into the cave and finally saw the light of an exit. I stepped ahead of the minotaur excitedly and exited the cave to see that the secret passage led out to about a hundred yards away from where the entrance gate was. The passage was that close?!
I felt Mannish Man's presence come up from behind me, but I didn't think anything of it. That is, I didn't until I heard someone shout my name.
"Lady Fionna!" I turned towards the familiar voice just in time to see a ball of fire speeding towards Mannish Man. Without thinking I stepped in front of the ball to protect him and while it would have hit Mannish Man at roughly his torso it hit me square in the jaw. The force catapulted me backwards and I slid back past the entrance of the gate onto my back. The next thing I knew the Key-per, Mannish Man, Sun, and Flame Prince's faces peered down at me as I looked up at the bright blue sky. FP's here? Are you fucking kidding me? "Oh my glob, I'm so sorry! It's just a saw that creature walking behind you and I thought he might be an enemy due to his size and appearance so I didn't really think things through…" Flint mumbled as he looked from me to the giant minotaur beside him.
"Are you hurt?" Mannish Man asked as he leaned over me and stuck out a gracious hand. I took it and the veins decorating his arm popped out slightly as he pulled me up to my feet.
"I'm fine. It's not that bad." I said and gently put the palm of my hand against the side of my face. It stung slightly and heat radiated off of it in waves. "What are you doing here, Flint?" I tried to hide my irritation, but I don't think it was covered well.
"I stopped by your house and Cake said you were here. Your cheek is all red. Glob, I feel horrible." he continued and ran a hand through his hair. The orange flames flitted around his glove before returning to their original place. Despite the fact that it really was his fault I felt slightly guilty.
"It's just a slight burn. Nothing serious, I promise."
"Do you need me to walk you home?" Sun asked as he looked over my cheek carefully.
"No I'm good. I need to head over to the Breakfast Kingdom to meet up with the king."
"Out of the question. We need to get that burn treated before it blisters and festers." Flint popped by my side and folded his arms decidedly. Mannish Man, Sun, the Key-per, and I turned to him and I felt my brow twitch in irritation.
"Excuse me?" I hissed. His look of surprise clearly showed he was not used to people getting angry at him.
"I feel horrible that I hurt you so humor me?" he asked more respectfully.
"No way! I promised PG and I need to check up on the Breakfast Prince anyway." Flame Prince was starting to get on my nerves, but I still had to be careful.
"Then I insist on escorting you." He suggested. I glanced over to Sun to see him roll his eyes in annoyance. I withheld a giggle and we soon found ourselves going our separate ways. The Key-per and Mannish Man returned back to the castle at Mount Cragdor, Sun decided to head back home to check on Cake, Gunter, and BMO, and Flint and I made our way to the Breakfast Kingdom.
The castle in the Breakfast Kingdom was a combination of edible and inedible building materials. How the coffeecake first floor held up the stone second floor was a complete mystery. The surrounding area always smelt of syrup due to the fact that the stone tower in the shape of a tea-pot constantly spewed it out. Flint and I crossed the bacon bridges covering the syrup moat and knocked on the metal door. A maid with egg-yolk skin graciously let us in and showed us to the parlor to wait.
The room wasn't too formal, but it was certainly nicely decorated. Pictures of the previous as well as present Breakfast Royalty adorned the blue walls and the pink carpet looked fuzzy and so comfortable. FP and I waited in silence until we heard loud footsteps thumping down the hall towards us. I stood up just in time for the king of the Breakfast Kingdom to swing the door open and stare at me icily. I tried my best to be as kind as possible regardless of his evil glare.
"Hello Your Highness. How is your—"
"You!" he cried. "I'll have you know that my son has had a terrible fungal infection ever since he returned from your care. How dare you think you can take your time finding him and then not check up on him afterwards!" He bellowed and his egg-white beard flopped crazily against his yellow skin. My eyes widened and I jumped slightly at his loud voice.
"Listen sir, I'm terribly sorry I couldn't find them sooner, but—"
"Damn right you're sorry!" the Breakfast King shouted at me, literally blowing my hair back. I had not noticed until then, but Flint was growing progressively angrier. Without warning he exploded into flames, causing the king to fall backwards. He grew as he stepped towards the older man and stared down at him heatedly.
"You scum of the earth!" FP hissed. "This woman saved your son and you dare to insult her! You will not speak to Lady Fionna like that ever again, am I clear? Or will I have to burn you to a little bacon crisp for you to get my point?!" The Breakfast King continued to cower in fear on the floor as Flint eventually calmed down enough to return to his normal state.
"I think you two should leave." The king gulped as soon as he found the power to speak again. Not wanting to cause much more trouble I quickly bowed to the king before practically running to the door with my friend at my heels.
"Thanks Flint."
FP decided to escort me back home from the Breakfast Kingdom even though I insisted I was fine by myself. The sun had just set when we reached the hill overlooking the tree house and I sighed in relief. The walk hadn't been awkward at all.
"I like you a lot Lady Fionna." Flint said suddenly. Spoke too soon.
"Flint, I think we should talk about some stuff." I should have stopped it before it had gotten to this point, but I was worried of the consequences. It didn't matter now; I had to set things straight.
"Like what Lady Fionna?"
"I'm flattered that you treat me the way you do, but I think you should just treat me as a friend." He stared at me confused and I felt guilty for what I was about to say. How was he going to react? "I'm in love with someone else. I love that you're so sweet and charming, but I can't possibly return your affections when I can't give you my heart. Someone else has it and he probably will until I die." Thankfully FP hadn't exploded with rage. Instead his flames shrunk and a heartbreaking frown formed on his face. "I'm sorry."
"I'm just glad I didn't have to say it." I turned to the voice and I couldn't help but smile. My heart welled up and all attention that had been focused on Flint was long forgotten.
"Marshall."
Marshall: You're so mean.
MMH: No I'm not. I said you were in the chapter and you were. Thanks to all those who favorited and reviewed (rainbowmainia, Adventure time girl 123, Tallen, 73245, Sabrina, TheBrideofChuckyIam, a guest, readertheatre, NeonTalisman, Wolf Huntress Silver Blood, Les Reves Doux, somethingunicorn, insane677, Alice Yagami, ThePandaHat, purpledragon6, Zephyrphym, loveable-me-03, Solarscarlettpulse, Emily Olga, and JeremyPunk).
Specifically a huge thank you to rainbowmainia and Wolf Huntress Silver Blood who reviewed multiple chapters in a row (d'awwwww thanks). Also a huge thank you to Tallen who gave me such a lovely in-depth review. Though not all of it was positive (which I do not mind at all) I felt myself getting really happy that someone took so much time writing a well-thought review for my story. This is the first fan fiction I've ever written and quite honestly I had not expected that I would get this far so I understand all the points he brings up. P.S. No need to be sorry!
Don't forget to favorite and review!