By the end of the next hour, the gang was ready to go. Jake was fed and happy, Finn and Fionna had their packs stuffed full of useful equipment, and the Ice King hadn't forgotten what he was there for yet. Finn was about as optimistic as he could be about how things were going to go, and they all decided it was time to get a move on. They moved outside the castle, and found Peppermint Butler waiting for them.
"Hey Peppermint Butler, we're ready to go, so wanna grab PB?" Jake asked him.
"I would, but she told me to tell you that she's busy in her lab and that she'd see you all later. Also she told me to tell you guys to not die." he informed them.
"Boy, really giving us a hero's send off isn't she." Flame Princess remarked.
Finn sighed, not terribly surprised at PB's conduct but he'd still been hoping she'd at least have the decency to see them off. "Must be working on something important." he said, mostly for his own sake.
"Whatever, we don't need her to kiss us on the head anyways." Flame Princess stated, stretching her arms and walking a distance away from the others. "Let's go guys!"
Flame Princess braced her arms pointing at the ground and fired out two columns of flame, lifting herself off the ground and rising into the sky. The Ice King flapped his beard a few times and slowly rose to meet her, leaving Finn, Fionna and Jake on the ground. Jake made a show of stretching his muscles before growing himself up to a huge size, scooping the pair of adventurers onto his back. Together, the five set out towards the Fire Kingdom at a fast pace, leaving Bubblegum's castle far in the distance.
Fionna took the opportunity while they traveled to try to meditate to calm her mind and allow her to focus. She'd learned some techniques from an old video her and Cake managed to dig up, and it had proved invaluable in the past for keeping her at ease. Finn watched her pensively, wondering what she was doing but hesitant to interrupt her to ask. He turned to look at Flame Princess, and saw that she too was silent, he guessed getting herself ready for the upcoming fight. Jake and the Ice King were chatting idly, but Jake had grown himself large enough that they were out of earshot from where Finn sat. He puffed out a breath, wondering how to occupy himself for the trip.
"Want me to teach you to do this?" Fionna asked without opening her eyes.
"Uhh, sure. Not really sure what you're doing, but I'm game."
"It's called yoga apparently. Cake and I learned it from some tape we found ages ago. It's pretty useful actually, keeps me calm, helps me focus, and it's good for flexibility." She patted the space on Jake's back in front of her and Finn sat, crossing his legs like hers were. She placed her hands on her knees and motioned for him to do the same. "Now close your eyes, and follow my instructions for breathing..."
The journey was fairly quick, both the fliers and Jake making fast time across the flat landscape leading to the Fire King's mountain. Fionna showed Finn some exercises to help him find his center, and though he didn't feel much different afterwards he thanked her for the instruction nonetheless. They reached the outskirts of the Fire Kingdom, denoted by the wildlife thinning and the grass and flowers of the hills dying out to be replaced by cracked red rock. Jake pulled up as the temperature around himself and his passengers began to quickly climb. Flame Princess circled around to them while Ice King deposited himself on the ground next to them.
"Alright you three, come down here and I'll magic you all up a bit." he called up.
Jake shrunk himself down, placing Finn and Fionna down next to him as he did so.
"Man, I think it gets hotter every time I come here." Finn remarked, wiping at his already sweating brow.
The Ice King was busying himself with muttering and working his hands around the air in front of him, and everyone watched closely as the vapour in the air started to condense in his palms. He finished his spell, and the vapour crystallized into a palm-sized snowflake made of solid ice. He held the item aloft, looking at it and making some incoherent grumblings before apparently deeming it worthy. He presented it to Finn, who fished some string out of his bag and looped it through the crystal snowflake to make a necklace. He stared at the item, taken by its beauty but also unsure of its effects. He turned a questioning eye to the Ice King.
"Oh don't be a baby Finn, it's totally harmless. It'll just make you feel like you're standing in a cool breeze." the wizard explained.
Finn shrugged and slipped the necklace on, feeling a chill run down his spine as he did. The oppressive heat in the air immediately started to recede, and instead he felt cool sensation on his face and arms. He shivered, his body adjusting to the sudden coldness it was immersed in. The boy recovered quickly, giving the Ice King a thumb up.
"Wow, this is great! I'm almost cold!"
Ice King nodded and clapped his hands together, glad that his spell was working as intended. "Well just don't stray too far, I have no clue how long these will last and if it melts, you might be in trouble."
Finn nodded somberly and stood aside, letting Fionna and Jake crowd in as the Ice King created two more necklaces. Jake's was identical, and the dog also had to resist the urge to huddle for warmth when he first put it on. Fionna groaned and placed her hand on her forehead when Ice King presented her with an icy heart shaped necklace instead, but she bit her tongue and put it on anyways. The chill wind that suddenly kissed her skin made her extremely uncomfortable, but the feeling passed and she had to admit, she felt a hundred times better.
"Alright, thanks Ice King!" Finn said enthusiastically, fist pumping the air in excitement. "Now how about those ice swords?"
The Ice King waved Finn down for a second, readjusting his crown on his head. "Yeah yeah, hold your horses. It's not easy to do this you know, there's hardly any water in the air!"
"Wait, that's a good point, how are you going to use your magic here?" Flame Princess asked.
"Oh that's easy, I brought some snow I can use to make more!" Ice King replied quickly, and as proof he hiked up his robe and revealed a baggy pair of pants that were stuffed with snow from his mountain. The others once again found themselves staring dumbfounded at him.
"...so why don't you use that to make the swords?" Finn asked.
"Duh Finn, you want to use pure water vapour for stuff that needs to hold up to a beating; a snow sword would fall apart."
Finn traded looks with the others and a collective shrug went up amongst them. Trusting the Ice King to know what he was talking about, they gave him a moment as he idly felt around the air and started to wander. He traveled about 30 feet away from them when he started excitingly pointing, "Here we go, this will do it!" he crowed.
He once more fell silent, starting a different incantation as he held a hand aloft. The group watched ice begin to form around his hand and then seemingly grow out from it, steadily developing into the same ice sword he'd created in practice the night before. Over the course of a minute, he'd created a gorgeous and shining blade which he presented to the others. Finn motioned his head to Fionna, allowing her to take the first up since it was based on her own sword. She took the sword from the Ice King and gave it a few experimental swings, content once more with its crafting.
"How did you remember this so exactly? You only made one other last night!" Fionna exclaimed.
"Why are you all acting like I'm not an amazing wizard?" Ice King asked irritably, "Would a simple 'thank you' hurt?"
Fionna looked a little cowed, bowing her head slightly at him. "You're right, sorry. Thank you Ice King, this will be great."
"That's better, and you're welcome. Now c'mere Finn, I'll get you one too."
The Ice King wandered away again, finding a spot in the air that satisfied him before undergoing his ritual again, producing a second sword. Finn took it up and similarly tested it, finding it a little light, but perfectly serviceable.
"All right! Thanks Ice King! We're gonna stomp those no-good elementals now!" the boy yelled triumphantly.
"No probs man." Ice King replied, shooting some finger pistols at Finn. He turned pensively to Jake. "So uhh, you use a sword too or what?"
Jake scratched his chin, unsure about what to ask for. He'd used a handful of weapons in his time, but he was more used to letting Finn do the heavy lifting that his stretchy body couldn't handle on its own. He closed his eyes and imagined a mean guy in armor charging at him. Jake swung his arms at the imaginary foe as if he was holding a club, and decided that if his subconscious thought it was a good idea then he would too.
"How about a club? Or a mace? That work?" Jake asked the wizard.
"Don't see why not, but if you don't have one to base it off of it might look a little... simple." he replied with a shrug.
The Ice King once more found a spot and conjured a weapon, though the ice club he gave Jake was little more than a hunk of ice on a stick. Jake eyed it and turned to the swords, which were impressively good replicas of Fionna's sword. He gave the Ice King an unimpressed look.
"What? I told you, I need something to base it on. I'm just not that creative on my own!"
"Alright alright. Thanks Ice King." Jake said glumly, handing the weapon to Finn. "Here, you'll have to hold this too until we get there."
Finn obligingly stowed it in his pack before turning back to Jake, who had already shrunk himself down to a tiny size. He scooped the dog up and placed him in his shirt pocket, turning to Flame Princess.
"Alright, ready to go?"
"I think so, thanks again all of you for coming along." she responded with a shy smile, "It means a lot to have you guys backing me up."
Finn gave her a thumb up and a smile, Fionna nodded encouragingly, and the Ice King even offered her smile. Flame Princess felt her heart fill up a little at the knowledge that she had friends despite anything else, and drew greater resolve from that fact.
"Ok then, let's go stomp out my dad!"
The group's trek into the Fire Kingdom itself went at a much slower pace, as both Flame Princess and Ice King slowed considerably with the weight of their respective cargo. Finn clung to one of FP's hands, his own safely encased in a heavy leather glove, and Fionna sat uncomfortably on Ice King's back as he unsteadily flapped along. Finn and Fionna were both holding onto a flat stone they'd found, and on it Flame Princess was burning a small pile of coal and woof, using heated air currents to guide the smoke beneath them. Finn had to admit, he was impressed that they'd made it so far undetected, as they'd flown clear over several groups of elementals beneath them who hadn't given the quick smoke cloud a second thought. He could have asked to go a bit faster, but he knew it was just his own impatience getting to him and he'd be smacking evil around in short order. He craned his head to look at Fionna, who had a fierce look on her face as she eyed the steadily approaching mountain. She noticed his gaze and turned to him, giving him a confident nod that he returned without hesitation. He looked up to Flame Princess, but the elemental seemed distracted by trying to fly straight and move the smoke at the same time. Finn gave her credit for how good a job she was doing, as he certainly didn't envy her having to carry him in the sky. Jake stretched some of his head out of Finn's pocket, enough to make a small face out of.
"Hey man, you ready to go?" Jake's tiny mouth asked.
"I think so, I just hope all this ice stuff holds out." he replied.
"Amen to that, this place was uncomfortable under Flambo's flame shield, I don't want to think about what it'll be like with no protection at all."
"You're gonna jinx us man, cut it out!" Finn scolded.
"Right right, still, we'd better keep close to Ice King." Jake said as his head receded into Finn's pocket.
Finn nodded to nobody in particular, taking a steadying breath as the mountainside loomed up before him.
"Showtime."
