Chapter 26: Stolen Dreams

Without even opening his eyes, Finn felt a sharp pain across his entire head. Trying to open his eyes only made the pain worse, so he just kept them closed as he laid on the ground. He touched his forehead and felt a bandage wrapped all around it. He was able to hear the crackling of a fire nearby and the echo of strong winds, though he couldn't feel any breeze. As the pain in his head began to fade, he opened his eyes.

Though his vision was still a bit blurry, he could tell he was inside a building. The room he was in had no windows, only a wooden door leading in and out. It was completely empty, save for a small campfire in the center next to Finn. He got up to a sitting position and groaned as the pain in his head returned a bit. His backpack was sitting a few feet from the fire on the other side of where he sat. Before he could get up to get it, the door opened.

The person that walked through was wearing a black coat with a hood. He was wearing a black gas mask hiding his face. He had blue worn jeans and black boots, with a brown satchel hanging from his side. But his most noticeable piece of gear was the object he carried in his hand. It was long and was made with dark gray metal. It had a long thin tube on its front and another bigger one on the top, with lenses on both sides. It had a handle underneath it and what looked like a button near the top. Finn's gaze went back to his face when he spoke.

"Ah, good. You're awake."

The voice was distorted, but Finn now knew it was woman. She walked up next to him and sat on the ground, letting out a sigh.

"You know, you must be extremely lucky if all you've used for defense is that sword."

She took off her gas mask and lowered her hood, revealing a woman with dark red hair. She reached into her satchel and pulled out a pair of glasses. She wiped them and put them on, now noticing Finn's shocked expression.

"Betty?"

She leaned back a bit with a confused expression.

"How do you know my name?"

"You still don't remember me?"

"No. Should I?"

Finn sighed and rubbed his eyes with his fingers.

"Never mind."

"Great. Possibly the only other the human left on Earth and he's crazy."

"I'm not crazy. I just-" he sighed again. "Can we just drop it?"

She shrugged and used a stick to move around the others in the fire.

"Well, now that you mysteriously know my name, how about yours?"

"Uh, Finn Mertens."

"Well, Finn, nice to meet you. I gotta say, I thought I was the only one left out there. It's nice to see there's still someone around."

Finn didn't reply and instead kept looking at the object she carried in with her. She turned to him and saw the weird look on his face.

"What's wrong? Never seen a rifle before?"

He quickly shacked his head and looked at her.

"Yeah, it's just… it's been a while since I've used one."

It was a lie, of course. Finn had only heard about guns used during the Great Mushroom War, but had never seen one in action. Except the ones Bonnie had invented that shot lasers. Finn quickly decided to change the subject.

"So, nice place you have here. Even though there's nothing in it."

She slightly chuckled.

This is just a temporary place for the night. My actual home is on the other side of the city."

Night?! "How long was I out?"

"A few hours. I'm surprised it wasn't more after the hit you took."

He tried getting up to his feet but the pain in his head returned, making him wince and sit back down. He groaned loudly as he thought of everyone back in Ooo having to deal with Parthrax without him.

"Take it easy. Here, take these." she handed him two white pills. "They'll help with the pain but will make you drowsy. They'll help you sleep."

As much as he hated himself for it, he took the pills. As he sat in thought, he still was clueless as to how he was gonna get Simon and Betty out of here. And he still needed to find Simon! Betty yawned and laid on the ground.

"Well, we best get some sleep. Tomorrow we'll go through the metro station and use the tunnels to reach my home."

Finn didn't question her and laid on the ground as well. As he waited for the pill's effects, he turned back to Betty, who was facing the other direction.

"By the way, thanks for saving me today." he said.

Instead of waiting for her reply, he just turned and went to sleep facing the wall. She turned around but didn't speak, instead just grew a light smile. After a few minutes, the pills that Finn took began to take effect and he started feeling woozy. He closed his eyes and let sleep envelop him.

When Finn opened his eyes, he was standing on his own two feet. He looked around and saw himself standing right in front of his tree fort in Ooo. Confused, he opened the door and stepped inside, where he saw Jake sitting on the couch playing Beemo. The dog look towards Finn with a smile.

"Finn, you're back!"

"Wha- how did I…"

"You really had us all worried. We thought you had left forever and left us to die."

Jake smile began to slowly fade until he now had a saddened expression.

"Oh, wait. That's what happened, wasn't it?"

"What? Jake, what are you-"

He instantly grew terrified as he saw Jake being covered with ash on his left side. It kept spreading through his body until he was fully covered in it. He stared at Finn with his soulless black eyes and grim stare.

"You left us to die."

He blew away with the wind, making him disappear completely.

"No…"

Finn saw the house itself was now starting to become covered with the ash. As it covered more and more of the walls and furniture, the entire thing began to collapse. Right before he was crushed, Finn went outside and shut his eyes, waiting for the crashing sound of the falling house. He slowly opened them when no noise came.

He was now standing in a small wooden porch. He saw the Candy Kingdom to his left side and nothing but forests and fields of grass everywhere else. He looked behind him to see a wooden door and realized it was Bonnie's house. Instead of knocking, he went to the side and looked through the window, where he saw her and Marcy sitting on the couch. Bonnie was drinking tea while Marcy was sucking on an apple.

"So, do you think Finn will ever be back?" Bonnie asked.

"No way. Guy just left us here to fend for ourselves. Can't blame him though. It was obvious he was never gonna be able to save us."

"Ha! Yea. Even with his powers he was pretty useless. I still wonder how Phoebe even liked him."

Finn was on the verge of kneeling on the ground upon hearing their words.

'I would never abandon them. I wouldn't.'

Just like with Jake, the two girls began to be covered in ash along with everything around them. Knocking himself out of his trance, Finn ran towards the door and opened it. Instead of Bonnie's house, however, he was now standing in Phoebe's room in the Fire Kingdom.

He saw the girl standing on the balcony on the other end. He closed the door behind him as he slowly began to walk towards her. She was holding something in her hands, though Finn couldn't tell what. As he got closer, he heard her humming happily as she stared at the kingdom below. When Finn was directly behind her, she turned around, with a smile on her face.

"Ah, Finn, you're back. We missed you."

He was about to speak before he switched to a shocked expression when noticed what she held in her arms. It was a little infant boy. Aside from his hair being made of fire, he looked just like Finn. The hair was yellow and his skin was pale white. He wore a blue shirt along with white diapers. In the center of his chest was a little red gem, like that on Phoebe's forehead. He slowly opened his ocean blue eyes and smiled when he saw Finn. He put his finger in front of the baby, who grabbed it and giggled. Finn smiled as well as tears went down his face.

"Hey little guy."

The baby kept playing with his finger until he let go.

"Finn?"

He looked up to see Phoebe looking with a worry on her face. He had a tear running down his face as he placed his hand on her cheek.

"I'm so sorry for leaving."

She smiled and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

"It's ok, Finn. I know you never wanted this life."

He grew utterly terrified when he saw her and the child get covered with the ash.

"No. Please…"

When they were both fully covered, they were drifted away by the wind, leaving behind no trace of them. Soon, the entire room began to get covered as well, and the sky outside became cloudy. The kingdom lost all of its red and orange color and was now gray and cold. Finn fell to his knees as tears ran down his face.

"Please! I didn't want to leave you!"

Suddenly, the area in front of him began getting covered in thick black smoke. After it dissipated, Parthrax stood in front him outside the balcony. The dragon raised his arm and swung down at Finn as he closed his eyes to accept his fate.

"NOOOO!"

The sudden scream from Finn startled Betty as she knelt beside him. Finn looked around and saw the fire was out and a bit of light entered through some cracks on the wall. He was breathing heavily and was drenched in sweat. He looked at Betty as she looked at him worriedly.

"Are you alright? You started to shake a lot while you slept."

He didn't respond. He, instead, got up quickly, opened the door, and ran outside the room.

"Hey, wait!"

He ignored Betty's calls as he ran down a small hallway then went down a small flight of stairs. After reaching the bottom, he reached a large room that lead to different areas of the building. He went through a pair of double doors and found himself outside in the city street. The sun was just shining over the horizon once again and there was no snow to be seen anywhere. Finn couldn't tell where he was but it was far from where he lost consciousness, though it was still only destroyed buildings.

"Argonath, take me back! Please!" he fell to his knees in the center of the road, "I HAVE TO GO BACK!"

He lowered his head and began sobbing as no answer came. As he laid there for a few minutes, Betty exited the building carrying Finn's backpack and her rifle along. She also had two gas masks hanging from her belt. She set the backpack down on the road and knelt next to him.

"Finn, look at me."

He paid no attention to her, just kept looking down as more tears kept leaving his eyes. She started shaking him.

"Hey, look at me!"

He was knocked from his trance and he looked up at her.

"Those things might be nearby. Now is not the time to lose it. Understand?"

Finn didn't reply for a few seconds but ended up nodding. She grabbed the side of his hoodie and put him in a standing position. She unwrapped the bandages from his head then handed him his backpack along with his sword. She reached into her satchel and pulled out a small pistol.

"Here, take this. Ever use one before?"

Finn was still a bit shaken but ended wiping his tears and taking it.

"Not really. Though I have used a few crossbows."

"Well, it's the same concept. Just aim and shoot. But be careful, it'll kick back a lot more than any crossbow."

He nodded then she started walking towards the left road.

"The metro station is this way. If we're lucky, we can make it to my place before noon."

He put the pistol in the back of his pants then gripped his sword tightly.

"Let's go." he said.

The two of them began walking through the city's deserted streets.

'I'll come back, Phoebe. I swear.'

Note: Just wanted to say thanks to anyone who has made it this far. You are awesome!