Chapter 29: Paying the Price
The only thing Finn felt beneath him as he laid on his back was the soft touch of grass. He slowly opened his eyes only to see a sky covered in dark gray clouds, blocking the sun. He got up to a sitting position and found himself in the middle of the Grasslands. Beside him were Simon and Betty, both still unconscious. Simon was different, however. He no longer had blue skin and white hair. He was back to the way he used to be. Though he was still wearing his Ice King clothing, his crown was gone. Betty still wore her regular outfit but Magic Man's hat was gone as well.
Finn's clothing were also back to normal. Instead of the brown hoodie, he had his blue shirt and white scarf once again. He got to his feet and walked over to the couple laying on the ground. They were both still alive and breathing, which made Finn sigh in relief. He looked around and saw only fields of grass and a forest to his right.
'At least it's a place I recognize.'
As Finn waited for the couple to wake up, he looked around for any injuries. It was as if he had never left Ooo in the first place.
'How did I end up all the way here from Ice Kingdom?'
His eyes widened as he remembered what happened before he left.
"Phoebe!"
As if awakened by the yell, Simon and Betty both groaned as they held their heads. He knelt back down next to them as they opened his eyes. Betty was the first to recognize him.
"Finn? Where are we?"
Her eyes widened as she saw Simon sitting beside her, still holding his head. Once he opened his eyes, he turned to look at her, making his eyes widen as well.
"Betty?"
She said nothing for a few seconds before launching herself at him and began kissing him. Simon was startled but closed his eyes as they both embraced. As the kiss deepened, they were lying flat on the ground once again. Finn's cheeks reddened as he stood awkwardly waiting for them to finish.
'Is this how people feel around me and Phoebe?'
After a whole minute of kissing, the two of them separated and smiled at each other as tears went down Betty's face. They got to a sitting position and Simon wiped away her tears. After they hugged one more time, they turned to Finn.
"Thank you so much, Finn." Betty said.
"Ah, it was nothing."
"No. We can never thank you enough for this." Simon said.
Finn smiled and rubbed the back of his head before replying.
"It was the least I could do. Especially since you nearly destroyed the world."
"What?" Simon asked.
"I'll explain some other time. But we have bigger problems right now. We have to find my friends."
He put his backpack on the ground and pulled out his phone. After dialing, it began ringing.
'At least I got a phone signal here'
"Hello?" it was Jake's voice.
"Jake, it's Finn."
"Finn?! Oh my Glob, where are you?!"
"Somewhere in the Grasslands. Where are you?"
"In Fire Kingdom with everyone else."
"Alright, I'll be there soon."
He hung up the phone, placed it in his backpack, and turned to Simon and Betty.
"Ok, so… things might get a bit confusing from here on out, but everything will make sense later."
"Where are we going?" Simon asked.
"You'll see."
He walked up to them and placed his hand on each of their heads, covering them in flame shield.
"Whoa, this feels weird." Simon said.
Finn then took a few steps back from them. When he was a safe distance away, he placed his hand on the Dragonstone and a blue flash surrounded him. Simon stared with his mouth open as Finn stood in front of them in his dragon form. He turned to Betty but her expression was blank.
"Yeah… I don't know either." she said.
Finn got down on all fours and placed his open palm in front of them. They both hesitated, but the two got on and Finn placed them on his neck. The two of them gripped each other's hands tightly as Finn expanded his wings. With one flap, he was instantly in the air, making Simon and Betty yell as he flew towards the Fire Kingdom.
After flying for 2 minutes, the kingdom came into view. Jake was sitting outside the palace waiting for him. His eyes widened when he saw him fly in and land in front of him, startling several guards and civilians. Simon and Betty got off and held onto each other as they recovered from the flight.
"Simon? Betty?" Jake asked.
The dragon collapsed to the ground with a loud thud and steam began to form around him. After a few seconds, Finn emerged and climbed down right beside Simon and Betty. Jake instantly stretched toward him and gave him a brotherly hug. As they laughed, Bonnie and Marcy came from the palace and joined them.
"Finn, you did it!" Bonnie said.
Marcy never said anything, just stared at Simon and Betty with wide eyes. She slowly floated over to the couple, who were looking at her with smiles.
"Simon?"
"Hey, Marceline."
She instantly lunged forward and hugged him tightly, which he did the same in turn.
"You're back!"
"And I'm never leaving again."
As the rest smiled at the scene, Finn had his attention to Phoebe, who was standing in the palace entrance along with CB. They both stared at each other with wide eyes from a distance. Normally, it would her to start sprinting towards Finn, but this time, he started running towards her. As the two of them reached each other on the ramp to the palace, Finn hugged her and began spinning her around in the air as she laughed. When he set her down, she was surprised to see he was the one crying.
"I'm so sorry I left you. I swear, I'll never abandon you again."
"You didn't abandon me, Finn." she held up her hand to show the ring, "You've been with me this whole time."
He pulled her in and gave her a kiss. As they remained that way for a few seconds, Phoebe wrapped her arms around his neck. As the kiss lasted longer, she raised her right leg back. When they pulled away, Finn grabbed her cheeks with both hands.
"There's no one else in Ooo I'd want to spend the rest of my life with. I will fight, bleed, and even die for you if I need to. I will do everything I can to be the best ruler to this kingdom I can be by your side. And when this is all over, we could…"
He was hesitant to continue as she stared at him with sparkling eyes.
"We can what?"
"We can start a family together."
She let out a small gasp and her eyes widened even more. Finn thought he had said too much before she kissed him and hugged him tighter than ever before. Finn was forced to breathe through his nose as she refused to break the kiss, which was also a chore since he could barely breathe with how tight she was holding him. He took a deep breath as she finally separated and saw her crying.
"Nothing would make me happier, Finn!"
She kissed him one more time before everyone else joined them.
"Alright, lovebirds, it's time to figure out our next move." Jake said.
"Right. What exactly happened while I was gone?"
"After you went through the portal, it closed behind you. Ever since then, we haven't found a single trace of either Parthrax or Flint." Bonnie explained.
"So, we have no idea where they are?"
CB stepped up.
"No. We've sent scouts along the western mountains and sent messengers to the other kingdoms. So far, no one has reported anything."
"Is it possible Flint got him?"
"I doubt it, seeing as how the clouds in the sky refuse to go away."
"So, we're stuck with no leads."
"Pretty much."
"Damn. How are we supposed to find him before he-"
The ground shook violently as a massive yellow thunderbolt struck on top of the Fire Kingdom's mountains. After it stopped, the group turned to where it had struck. There was a large cloud of black smoke coming from the very top of the mountain, covering the kingdom in even more shadow. They're eyes widened when they saw Parthrax emerging from the smoke cloud. He looked down to where Finn was and the human suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head, causing him to fall to his knees as he shouted.
"Finn!"
He couldn't hear Phoebe's call as he held his head from the pain. The next thing he heard Parthrax's voice inside his mind.
Ah, there you are.
The pain went away and Finn looked up to see the dragon reach behind him and pick up a giant boulder. As he held it over his head, he tilted back and threw down towards them. The boulder shattered a few buildings and a street, but no one was injured.
"He missed." Marcy said.
Once the smoke from the impact cleared, the group noticed the boulder was oddly shaped and had a red gem on one of its sides. It was the armored dragon's torso.
The torso began to release steam and began to crack on top. Finn and Phoebe quickly ran up to it and climbed on top while everyone else stared at Parthrax as he stood watching. As Finn and Phoebe stood on top, they waited to see Flint emerge from within. When he did, their faces were filled with horror.
The elemental was missing his left arm and his right eye. He had a large scratch on the front of his armor and back, revealing huge cuts and bruises. He fell over with a groan as Phoebe caught him.
"Flint…"
He coughed a few times before slightly opening his remaining eye to look at her.
"Sister? I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."
"No it's not Flint. You couldn't have prevented him from reaching us."
"But I could've tried. It was stupid of me to hide so much from you all these years. I thought I was fighting for the good of the kingdom. But it turns out I'm just an ass like dad." he raised his right hand, where the red Dragonstone lay, and placed it on her cheek. "But at least now…I'll get what I deserve."
Phoebe smiled slightly as tears ran down her face.
"You were always good to me when we were kids. I'll never forget those times."
He turned to Finn, who was kneeling right beside them.
"And Finn…" he smiled, "Take care of her for me."
He turned to Phoebe one more time.
"I love you, sister."
With that, he gave his final breath and his eyes closed. Suddenly, his body started to glow red until a blinding light forced Finn and Phoebe to shut their eyes. Once the light faded, Flint was gone. His body nowhere to be seen.
Phoebe began to sob as she covered her face with both hands. Finn got closer and placed his arms around her, making her hug him back. As she cried into his shoulder, he heard Parthrax's voice again.
Now that the boring farewells are out of the way, it's time I finish what I started. And this time, I'll make sure you die.
He roared loudly and flaming rocks began falling from the sky. Finn's eyes widened when he saw one heading right towards them. He gripped Phoebe tightly and pulled off the dragon torso, which was then hit by the rock. The citizens and his friends all scattered as more rocks kept falling, destroying much of the kingdom's buildings. Once they stopped, Finn, let go of Phoebe and the two made their way to their friends.
"Is everyone alright?"
Jake groaned as he got up.
"Yeah, I think so."
He looked around to see Simon, Betty, CB, and Marcy all in group.
'But where's-'
"BONNIE!" Marceline shouted as she flew over to one of the rocks landing sites.
The candy girl was lying on the ground next to it, missing her right arm and leg. Her clothes and skin were badly burned and her breathing was weak and raspy. Marceline knelt right next to her and held her up, causing her to wince. She opened her bloodshot eyes to see the crying vampire above her.
"Marceline…"
"Don't speak. Just stay still."
"Marcy, listen. I…"
No other word came from her. Her eyes closed as she exhaled deeply. Marceline felt like her whole world was taken from her in the blink of an eye. She didn't cry, instead just shouted loudly up to the sky with her eyes closed. Simon and Betty walked up to her and knelt next to her.
"I'm sorry, Marcy."
"I never got to tell her that… that I…"
She never got to finish, just continued to cry uncontrollably as Simon wrapped his hands around her. Everyone else stood quietly looking at her as she suffered, but none was angrier than Finn. He looked up to see Parthrax still standing on the mountain, looking at them.
'First Rattleballs, then Flint, and now Bonnie.'
"THIS ENDS NOW!"
He ran far from the group and touched the Dragonstone, turning him into his dragon form. He roared louder than he ever had before, causing everyone below to cover their ears, except for Marcy as she still held Bonnie in her hands.
Parthrax expanded his wings and flew down towards him. As the two dragons stood right in front of each other, Parthrax spoke for everyone to hear.
"This will be fun."
Note: 0 to 100 real quick on this one. The final battle is close at hand.
