I'm baaack! I'm pretty proud of the story's first cliffhanger, I hope you guys liked it too.

I do not own 'Adventure Time'.

Here we go now.

Chapter 14

The Lives We Live

Finn opened his eyes and saw yellow, he was once again standing in the cube-shaped room from before. And just like before, the large, pink shadow being was there, smiling down at him. "Hey man what's up?, good to see you again!"

Finn glared at the shadow. "You?! The last time I saw you, I was sent overseas a thousand miles away from my home! There is a very high probability that my mom thinks I'm dead!"

The silhouette raised his hands defensively. "Dude calm down, I-"

"Wait, hold on." Finn placed a hand on his stomach, he suddenly remembered Flint running him through. "Am I!"

"No dude, chill! You're not dead." the shadow man said. "Right now, you're in the Candy Kingdom infirmary. The Flame Princess rushed you there after her brother stabbed you." the pink being picked up a TV remote from out of nowhere and clicked a button, one side of the yellow cube-room lit up like a giant flat screen. The TV-wall showed Finn in a hospital bed hooked up to a few machines, he was being attended by Dr. Ice Cream, a pound cake nurse, and a green-skinned woman doctor with glasses and a double ponytail. Finn's hat was missing and he was wearing a blue hospital gown, but his stomach was covered by a large bandage.

Finn stared at the scene in both shock and fear. "That's me?"

"Yyyup. That Flint guy got you good, the blade went through your spinal cord and your stomach." the pink shadow said. "You're still alive though, don't worry. The doctors are calling it a miracle."

Finn then looked up at the mysterious being. "What's going on? Why am I here? Who are you?" his tone wasn't demanding, but pleading.

The shadow gave him a sad, sympathetic smile. "I know you're scared Finn, and I'm sorry about everything that's happened. But there are some things I can tell you and some things I can't, you need to understand and accept that."

The shadow raised a hand in greeting. "I am Prismo, the Wishmaster. That I can tell you."

Finn looked at him curiously. "Wishmaster?"

"That's right, although the title is kind of an oversimplification of what it is I do." Prismo explained. "See the whole 'granting wishes' thing is more of a side business. What I actually do is keep the timelines in check, I make sure the rivers of time flow smoothly throughout the multiverse. But every now and then someone finds their way to me and according to the rules, I have to grant them any wish they desire. I'm like Father Time if he were a genie."

Finn's eyes widened. "Wait. So if you grant a wish to whoever finds you, then can-"

"I'm gonna go ahead and stop you right there." Prismo said with a raised palm. "A: You didn't find me, I found you. B: You're not physically here, you're spiritually here. And C: You're not even ready to make your wish."

Finn raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'not ready'?"

"Be honest man, if you could make a wish then what would it be?"

Finn opened his mouth but found that he couldn't think of an answer. "Uhhhhhhhhh… to go home?"

"Would you really though?" questioned Prismo.

Finn didn't answer.

Prismo nodded. "Mmm-hmm that's what I thought."

Finn looked at the wall-screen, the green-skinned doctor lady was listening to his heartbeat with her stethoscope. "So if that's me then what is this?" he gestured to his own body.

"Well in the physical world, you're in a coma caused by the sudden trauma of being stabbed in the guts with a sword that was on fire. That had to sting, am I right? Right now you're dreaming, and when you dream, your physical body may be at rest but your spirit becomes far more active. I just asked a friend to open a door for your spirit and it rushed in here, eager to explore."

"Huh, neat." Finn then realized there was no sound coming from the screen. "How come you have it on mute?"

"Because of this." Prismo clicked another button and the video zoomed out, revealing Princess Bubblegum, Flame Princess, Marceline, Jake, BMO, LSP, and even Ice King gathered in the infirmary. PB and FP were shouting angrily at one another, they seemed to be on the verge of throttling each other.

"My money's on the red one." Prismo commented.

"Turn the mute off, I wanna hear what they're saying." Finn said.

"Trust me, you don't wanna listen to that. It's not important anyway, they're both just seriously upset over your injury."

Flame Princess suddenly erupted into a six-foot tall fiery nightmare and Bubblegum pulled out a high-tech looking pistol from her dress, but before either of them could do anything Jake wrapped himself around PB and stretched her away from Phoebe and Ice King trapped the Flame Princess in a dome of ice, which he strained to keep intact.

Finn flinched at the sight. "Geesh."

"Uh-huh. This is why I prefer being single, so much unneeded drama in a relationship."

"I'm not dating either of them."

"Give it time."

Finn blushed and looked back at the screen, FP had melted out of her dome but she seemed to have calmed down. She stood on one side of the room while Bubblegum stood on the other. Both of them still looked pretty angry. "Can't I go and talk to them? Like, as a ghost or something?" he asked.

Prismo shrugged. "I mean, you could go back in your temporal form. But the only one that would be able to see or hear you would be Ice King, and do you really want him doing the talking?"

"Nevermind."

"Okay look, we're getting off track here. Finn, I brought you here to do some explaining." Prismo said. "As soon as the friend I mentioned earlier gets here, we'll discuss a few things. Now like I said, I can't tell you everything because cosmic law, rules of the universe, yadda yadda yadda, my boss is kind of a donk. But I will be able to tell you a few important things, just as soon as CO gets here. He's actually running late."

As if on cue, a giant golden owl suddenly appeared in the square entrance of the room, which had also suddenly appeared. The large owl sparkled and glowed with an ethereal light and his eyes were white and pupiless, in his wings he held a few boardgames. "Waddup Prismo?!" The big, gold bird shouted. One would've expected him to talk all mystically and sage-like but in reality, he sounded more like a basement dweller than a wise man of the mountains. When the owl saw Finn he formed a look of shock and embarrassment. "Oh… Finn's here… we were doing that today huh?"

"Uh yeah dude, that was today." Prismo said with a mildly annoyed tone.

"Hey I remember you." Finn pointed at the owl. "You were in one of my dreams, I was riding on a tiger and you were flying after me."

The owl flapped down to the floor and gave the Human an apologetic smile. "Yeah, sorry about that man. It's sometimes a little tricky getting into the dreams of an incarnate."

"A what?"

"Woah woah woah, hold on." Prismo said. "Look, let's take this step at a time. Finn, this is my friend the Cosmic Owl. You might have heard of him, he's a popular figure in Ooo."

Finn looked at the Cosmic Owl. "I don't think I've ever heard of you, what's your deal?"

"I show up in dreams as a sign of premonition. You know, like I did with you before you came to Ooo."

"...Okay."

"I also help Prismo out with the timelines, I don't normally get involved with that stuff but our boss told me and Prismo both to keep an eye on you."

"Who's your boss?"

"Me and Cosmic Owl are both agents of the universe." said Prismo. "Everything we do, we do by the divine will of the cosmos."

"Okay but, how do I fit into the picture?" Finn asked.

"Before we answer that.'' The Cosmic Owl held out one of the board games. "You wanna play some Card Wars?"

"I don't know what that is."

Cosmic Owl gasped. "Okay, now we have to play it."

"I think the universe's interest in me is a little more important, don't you?"

"Dude come on, just play him a few rounds." said Prismo. "Relax yourself a bit before we drop this on you."

Finn sighed. "Alright, how do you play?"

"How's his heartbeat Dr. Princess?"

"Still steady Dr. Ice Cream."

"Good. Nurse Pound Cake, check the ventilator."

"Ventilator is functioning properly."

"Good." Dr. Ice Cream walked over to Princess Bubblegum, who was sitting on one of the empty patient beds. The princess looked sick with worry, when she saw Dr. Ice Cream approach her she jumped to her feet. "Has his condition worsened?" PB asked.

"His condition remains stable." Dr. Ice Cream replied. "We've got him on life support, but you know just as well I do how serious his injury is. The blade went right through his spine and put two holes in his stomach. The fire may have cauterized the wound but the damage done by the attack-"

"Can be fixed." PB stated with determination. "I can and I will fix it."

"You might not have to princess." Ice King flew over to Bubblegum's side. "There are rumors among the wizards of a cyclops with magical tears that can heal any injury. I can ask around a bit, find out where the cyclops is hiding, and bring back some-"

"I have no need for your 'magic' Ice King." PB stated. "This is a job for legitimate science, not some magicians trick."

"What's your problem with magic?" IK asked. "It's basically science's doppelganger."

"She doesn't understand magic, so she spits on it." Marceline explained. The vampire was sitting on another bed next to the one Bubblegum was sitting on. She had her bass with her and she strummed a few chords. "Anything she doesn't understand she immediately dismisses as not worth her time, because glob forbid the very idea of Prissy Princess Pinky failing to comprehend something."

PB narrowed her eyes at Marcy. "Why are you here again?"

"Because Finn owes me rent, also he's my friend and I care about him. If it were you in that bed you wouldn't see me anywhere around." Marceline answered sharply.

That seemed to cut a little too deep, Bubblegum looked genuinely hurt by the harsh comment. Her look of hurt quickly turned into a look of anger however and she was about to retort, but Jake stretched a hand over her mouth before she could. "Come on guys, enough! We're all here for Finn." the bulldog said.

LSP floated over to Jake's side. "Yeah guys, we like, need to focus on Finn right now." the royal outcast then pulled out her phone and floated over to Finn's side. She held her phone up for a video of her and Finn. "Hello good people of Ooo! This is Lumpy Space Princess here at the Candy Kingdom infirmary. I'm afraid I have like, the worst news ever. Finn the Human, beloved celebrity icon of Ooo, has been severely injured. The doctors say he might not make it, but he needs all the love and support you guys can muster. So send over all of your love and affection… in the forms of gift baskets filled with food, sodas, those nice smelling soaps, and those cute get well cards that have funny jokes in them. Remember this is all for our beloved Finn, who has shown Ooo so much kindness. So go out to the store and get me-I mean Finn-those gift baskets, and remember to subscribe to my channel for further updates. LSP out."

LSP stopped the video and began typing away on her phone. "Aaaaaaand, send."

Flame Princess gave LSP an annoyed look. "That seemed a little less for Finn and little more for you."

"Hey! Don't give me that crap! It was your brother that did this to Finn, what're you gonna do about that?!"

"If Finn dies, then I'll throw my brother in the execution pool. If he lives, then I'm just gonna dip his legs in the water until I grow tired of his screams."

LSP just stared at FP. "...Okay." was all she said before floating over to Marcy's side where she continued to type away on her phone.

Flame Princess looked over at Finn, BMO was sitting on his chest playing a cheerful tune through his speakers. The little robot paused the music for a minute to fluff Finn's pillow, then he sat back on Finn's chest and continued the music. FP smiled at the sweet display, but her smile collapsed into a frown when she remembered Finn would possibly spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair hooked up to a machine in order to stay alive.

'And it's my fault.'

LSP's phone started to chime over and over. "Woah, I am getting so many replies and subscribers! Oh my glob, Finn like, needs to get critically injured more often."

Everyone gave LSP a look.

"...What?"

Cosmic Owl stared at his remaining cards in deep concentration, he began to grunt and groan in frustration. Finn waited patiently for his opponent to make his move and Prismo watched the game intently. Finally Cosmic Owl made his move. "I cast my Field of Nightmares to scare your Cyclops to death, and I summon my Cerebral Bloodstorm to finish off your Pig and your Scholar." The CO played his cards and the two actions made their way towards Finn's characters on the board.

Finn smiled. "Sorry man but you can't scare my Cyclops because he's been working out, so his machismo has increased." The beefed up cyclops on the board swatted away the Field of Nightmares and gave a hearty laugh.

"And as for my Pig and Scholar, they'll be fine because my Scholar learned how to control storms while he was in the Cave of Solitude." As the Cerebral Bloodstorm made its way to the pig and the scholar, the scholar raised his hand towards the move and it stopped dead in its tracks. Then with a flick of the scholar's wrist, the storm flew over to Cosmic Owl's husker knights and destroyed him.

"No!" the golden owl cried.

"And now, I send my Pig to eat your Cornfield, thus weakening your Archer Dan. And I send my Cyclops to attack your now weakened Archer Dan." Finn activated the cards and the pig began eating the cornfields and as Archer Dan started to wither the cyclops came over and gave him a strong punch in the face, which killed the poor archer.

"No no no!"

"You have no more defenders, so your territory is mine and I win."

Cosmic Owl through his cards in the air. "GAAAAAH! Best out of three!"

"Dude, he already won three times against you." said Prismo.

"How are you so good at this game?" Cosmic Owl demanded. "It's your first time playing and you beat me three freaking times in a row!"

Finn shrugged. "It's all about strategy man, and you have bad strategy."

"Ooooooh, he got you!" Prismo cheered.

Cosmic Owl frowned. "Ugh, can we just tell him the thing now?"

"Alright fine, ya sore loser." Prismo snapped his fingers and suddenly the three of them were sitting in a hot tub, Finn was now wearing nothing but a pair of blue swim trunks.

Finn was only fazed by the sudden change for a few seconds, then he sat back and relaxed in the tub. "Ahhhhh, this is nice."

"You want a snack or a drink?"

"You got Super Porp?"

A can of Super Porp materialized next to Finn from above like coding, Finn opened up the can and took a drink. "Man, this stuff is good."

"You probably wouldn't be saying that if you knew how it was made." Cosmic Owl commented.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh nothing. Yo Prismo, can I get some chips over here?" some chips materialized next to the bird. "Thanks."

Finn looked at Prismo and the Cosmic Owl expectantly. "Okay so, what is it you guys wanted to tell me?" he asked.

The two agents of the universe looked at each other, then back at the Human. "Finn, how familiar are you with reincarnation?" Prismo asked him.

This only succeeded in confusing Finn. "Uh… you mean coming back to life as someone else?"

"Kinda, reincarnation works a bit like recycling." Prismo began. "When someone or something dies, their soul goes to the underworld where they spend the rest of their afterlife. With reincarnation however, it works a little differently. The soul of someone who is to be reincarnated is sort of put on standby, when a suitable vessel is about to be born into the world then the soul enters the body of the newly born being. New body, old soul. You follow?"

Finn took a drink from his soda and nodded.

"Not everybody gets reincarnated though." Cosmic Owl said. "Generally, only beings of great power are reincarnated into another life. Like the Elementals for instance."

"The what?" Finn asked.

"The four Elementals are the embodiments of the four elements of magic; candy, slime, ice and fire. They have existed since the dawn of time." Prismo explained. "The four Elementals are reincarnated into the world every generation or so, the Elementals of this generation, well, you've already met them."

Finn recalled a certain memory. "In my dream, you told me to 'seek out the Candy Elemental'. Did you mean Princess Bubblegum?"

Prismo smiled. "Yes I did, Princess Bubblegum is the current Candy Elemental. Which is kind of ironic when you think about it, since she doesn't even believe in magic."

"So, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Flame Princess, Slime Princess, and Ice King are the other Elementals." Finn said.

"Yes, yes, and no. The Ice King possesses the power of a former Ice Elemental, but he's more of a runner up. Don't worry, you won't have to worry about the actual Ice Elemental… for now."

Finn looked at Prismo curiously. "Okay, so if Ice King isn't an Elemental then what is he?"

"That's a long and tragic story, and it's not my place to tell you it." said Prismo. "Your friend Marceline knows it though, in fact she's an important part of that story."

Finn frowned in thought of all that, then he looked back at the pink shadow. "You still haven't said what that has to do with me."

"The Lich is also the reincarnation of a powerful entity." Prismo clicked a button on his remote and the image of a green comet appeared on the viewing wall. There was something eerie about the comic though, the comet's fire was green and ghastly and it appeared to have a pair of curly horns made of green fire.

Finn stared at the image. "Is… is that…?"

"Yup, that's the Lich. More specifically, that's the Catalyst Comet." Cosmic Owl said. "See, the Catalyst Comet crashes into your world every thousand years and wipes out just about everything. The comet is like a big, restart button for your world."

Prismo pointed at the comet on screen. "The Catalyst Comet reappears every thousand years to do the dead and every thousand years it takes on a different form. This is the form the comet took a thousand years before the Mushroom War, or the Apocalypse as you humans call it. It was the most malicious form the comet has ever taken, it actually did more damage than any of the other comet's forms. The Lich is the reincarnation of this incarnation of the Comet, he was born into your world from the destruction and carnage wrought by the Mushroom Wars. His primary function is to destroy all life."

Finn took a minute to let that digest. 'We created the Lich, the blood is on our hands.' "Wait, so when's the next comet supposed to come crashing down on us?"

"The Catalyst Comet actually came for your world two years ago, but by the will of the universe, the King of Mars gave his life to divert the comet's course. It ended up crashing into some desert planet, I think it actually started a new cycle of life there." said Prismo.

"King of Mars?"

"Yeah, people live on Mars. And no, they're not tiny green men, yeah their green but they're not tiny."

"You still haven't told me what any of that has to do with me?" Finn complained.

"Princess Bubblegum, Slime Princess, Flame Princess, the Lich; they are all the reincarnations of a powerful entity… and so are you Finn."

This certainly took Finn by surprise. "What?!"

"Yeah man, you're on the list too." The Cosmic Owl said. "This is like, your fifth incarnation."

Finn could feel his heart begin to race.

"Doctor Ice Cream, his heartbeat has increased dramatically!"

"I can hear the beeping Nurse Pound Cake! Doctor Princess, get the sedative!"

All of Finn's friends came rushing to his side. "What's wrong with him?!" PB demanded.

"We don't know your highness, one moment everything's fine and the next his heart rate triples!"

Everyone was looking at Finn's unconscious body with desperation and fear in their eyes. Everyone but Ice King, who was staring at Finn with a strange look on his face. "Well that's weird." he mumbled.

Doctor Princess came over with a syringe needle full of a clear liquid. "I have the sedative, preparing to inject the patient in the-"

A blast of white energy froze the syringe in the doctor's hand, Doctor Princess dropped the needle in shock and it shattered on the ground.

All eyes were on Ice King. "WHAT THE NUTS IS WRONG WITH YOU!" Jake shouted.

Ice King looked around at all the angry looks he was getting. "What? He doesn't need it." he replied innocently.

"Yes he needs it! We need to keep his heart beat steady!" Doctor Ice Scream shouted.

"Nah he's fine, give it a minute and he'll probably calm down."

Bubblegum glared at him with both disbelief and irritation. "What are you talking about you crazy, bearded, dummer alter einsiedler!"

"Hey! Let him talk!" said Marceline, she then turned to IK. "Go ahead, explain yourself."

"Well it's pretty simple really, Finn isn't here." Ice King said.

Jake looked at him like he was an idiot. "Uh yes he is, he's lying in that bed unconscious because he was put into a coma after he was turned into a shish kebab!"

"No no no, that's not what I meant. I meant his spirit isn't here. Wherever it is though, it must have witnessed or discovered something intense."

Finn's heartbeat returned to normal.

"See there you go, he got over it. Good for him."

Bubblegum continued to glare at Ice King. "For future reference Ice King, do not gamble someone's life with the far fetched notion of a lunatic!"

"It's no ordinary lunatic we're talking about though, it's me! I can see it all with my wizard eyyyyes." Ice King pointed at his eyes and they sparkled and gleamed. "I can see into the spirit world, and communicate with those who reside on the temporal plane." he said mystically.

Bubblegum still looked unconvinced, she folded her arms over her chest. "You're telling me you can see Finn's 'soul' or whatever."

"No that's the weird thing, I can't see his spirit at all. What you see lying before you is just an empty shell, like a hermit crab that crawled out of his shell or something." IK explained.

"Well if he's not here then where is he?" Flame Princess asked.

"Who knows, probably decided to hit it up somewhere else. This place is kind of depressing." IK said.

"It's a hospital." Marcy pointed out.

"Okay, so if Finn's spirit isn't here then how do we find it?" Jake asked.

"You can't, you just gotta wait for him to come back. Although by the looks of his body I'd say he isn't very set on coming back."

PB pinched the bridge of her nose, then turned to the three medical professionals. "Keep an eye on his vitals." she ordered.

"Yes your highness."

Just then, Jake Jr. peeked her head through the infirmary door. "Hey dad? There is like, a truckload of gift baskets out here for Finn." she said.

LSP raised her hands in the air. "Yes!"

"You good now?" Prismo asked.

"Yeah, yeah I'm good." Finn responded he twirled his finger around in the water of the hot tub. "I'm the reincarnation of some ancient deity just like PB, FP and the Lich."

"Yes."

"But you won't tell me which ancient deity."

"No."

"Because of comic laws and stuff."

"Right."

"So what, am I just some unlucky, expendable chump who the universe decided to use against his will?"

"Wrong."

"...Are you gonna tell me why that's wrong?"

"Oh, sorry, we were doing a thing and… nevermind. Listen Finn, this might sound a little cliche but, you were always meant to come to Ooo."

Finn raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"During your time in Ooo, you've felt a sense of belonging, a sense of purpose, like you were supposed to be there." It was a statement not a question. "Did you ever wonder why that was?"

Finn shook his head.

"It's because you were destined to be Ooo's icon of hope from the day you were born." Prismo told him. "Ooo needed you man, you have given the world equilibrium. Something that the Lich despises."

"I haven't really done all that much." said Finn.

"Finn, the Lich may be imprisoned, but he can still whisper into the ears of those he deems easy to manipulate. He probably manipulated Flint to attack you. He's the reason the Candy and Fire Kingdoms almost went to war, and that war would have begun a chain reaction in Ooo that would have eventually led to the Lich escaping his prison and wreaking havoc on an already battleworn world. You however, were sent to Ooo by the will of the universe to stop the war and give the people something they desperately needed."

"And what's that?"

"Stability, a ray of hope, someone to look at and say 'ah what's the worst that could happen with this guy around?'. That's you Finn, that's your purpose."

Finn had no idea how to process all of that, he felt honored to be Ooo's icon of hope and it felt good to be the Helper he always wanted to be. But the other hand, Finn was afraid he was biting off more than he could chew. The land of Ooo was crazy and chaotic, inhabited by beings both young and ancient who possessed incredible power.

"Prismo, I'm not sure I'm up for this." he said.

"You have to be Finn, for the sake of everything and everyone you hold dear."

"What do you mean by that?"

"If you want to learn more about your past lives just ask the Ice King, he'll know what to do. Plus you're going to need to be there when it happens."

"When what happens?"

"Later Finn, see you soon."

"Don't blow me off like that, you're going to answer my damn ques-"

Finn disappeared in a stream of cosmic coding before he could finish.

Once Finn was gone, Cosmic Owl gave Prismo a worried look. "I don't know man, I still think we should've told him that he and the Lich are-"

"He's not ready to hear that yet." Prismo said.

"Well won't he figure it out when Ice King takes a look?"

"Nah, the memory of his original form is tucked too deep into his subconscious to be revealed… at least as of now anyway."

"Are you going to heal him at least?" Cosmic Owl asked.

"There's no need for me to heal him."

CO's eyes widened. "So he's…"

"Just this once, thanks to Flint's attack."

Cosmic Owl sighed. "Why couldn't he have been sent to Ooo when he was a baby like he was supposed to?"

"I know right? Would've made our jobs a whole lot easier."

"Totally… you wanna watch a dirty movie on your big screen?"

"...Dude."

Finn woke up in a hospital bed, it took a minute for his senses to readjust though. Once he could see and hear again, Finn looked around and saw his friends gathered near the infirmary door. Jake Jr. was there too, there were all discussing something about gift baskets. None of the doctors were around, so no one noticed Finn was awake. Finn then looked down at the large, white bandage covering his stomach, he couldn't actually feel any pain but they might've put him on painkillers or something. Finn decided to check to see if he could still move his body, he sat up, twirled his arms around, stretched his back…

And wiggled his toes.

Curious, Finn reached for the bandage on his stomach. He was hesitant at first but he managed to slip his fingers under the cloth and slowly pull it off his body. All he could see underneath was a clean scar on his abdomen.

Confirming that he was alright, Finn swung his legs over the side of the bed and pulled all the chords and the breathing mask off of him. Finn's friends were drawn by the sound of the machine flatlining and when they saw Finn, they gasped in absolute astonishment.

Finn raised his palm in greeting. "Sup everybody, I'm back."

The three medics came running through the other door each carrying some medical equipment. "The patient has flatlined! We need to-" they all froze when they saw that Finn was okay. They all dropped their equipment in comical unison. "Impossible." Dr. Ice Cream stated.

"Finn!" Jake ran over and nearly tackled Finn off the bed with his hug. "You're okay!"

Bubblegum ran over to Finn's side and gaped at Finn with wide eyes. "But… how… you were… this is…"

"Oh who cares?!" Marcy flew over and wrapped her arms around Finn's neck, everyone seemed surprised by the vampire displaying so much affection. "Now he can pay his rent." Jake slipped away as Marceline continued her embrace.

Finn's face reddened even more when Bubblegum decided to take Marcy's advice and joined in on the hug. The two girls looked at each other and seemed to come to a silent truce, they gave each other a small smile before releasing Finn.

Flame Princess and the others came rushing to Finn's side, Phoebe looked Finn in the eyes and it almost looked like she was about to cry. "Finn I… I'm so sorry." her flames intensified. "I should have never invited you to that stupid festival!"

"It's not your fault FP." Finn told her, he reached out to place a comforting hand on her shoulder but pulled it back upon being burned by her touch.

Phoebe took a step back. "Sorry!"

"Nah, that was my fault." Finn said, rubbing his palm. "Where'd my necklace go?"

"I have it right here Finn." BMO came up and presented him with the sapphire necklace. "I am the keeper of the necklaces."

"Thanks BMO." Finn took the necklace and put it on. "Okay, now-"

Flame Princess rushed in and bearhugged the boy. The necklace may have protected him from the heat but his face still flushed. "I promise you, Flint will pay for what he did." she whispered harshly into his ear.

"I'm not really pressing charges or anything FP." Finn told her. "It's all good."

Flame Princess released him and stared at him incredulously. "Flint almost killed you, the guy literally backstabs you and you're okay with that?!"

"Well I mean, I can't hold a grudge every time someone attacks me. Marceline attacked me on the beach, LSP attacked me with a frying pan, Jake went all big and buff when we first met to try to scare me, Ice King tried to freeze blast me the minute I walked into his house, you were about to cook me alive when we first met, and I'm pretty sure PB still wants to experiment on me."

"What? No I don't." said Bubblegum. "I'm over that." the princess gave Dr. Ice Cream a stern look and the doctor hid the syringes of blood behind her back.

Lady Rainicorn and the rest of Jake's kids chose that moment to enter the infirmary. "Jake, geu modeun seonmul bagunileul teuli hauseulo bonaesigessseubnikka?" Lady asked, when she and the pups saw Finn though, they all gasped. "Geuneun kkaeeo issgo jejagjaleul chingchanhabnida!" she cried joyfully, and Jake's family ran over to join the others at Finn's side.

"Hey Lady Rainicorn, hey pups." Finn greeted. "How's it going?"

"Dude, we heard a fire guy skewered you like a side of beef." Charlie said. "And now you're sitting there in mint condition, and you're asking us how we're doing?!"

Finn just shrugged. "Joker card's no joke huh?"

Charlie stared at him for a bit, then smiled. "Good to see you're okay man."

"You had us all worried sick." Viola said. "We were afraid you weren't gonna make it."

"By the way, there's like, a ton of gift baskets and get well cards for you Finn." said TV. "You want me to go grab them for you?"

"Gift baskets?"

TV disappeared with a flash of colorful light, when he reappeared he did so in front of a pile of gift baskets and note cards. "Yup."

Finn stared at the pile in disbelief. "Woah, who sent all of those?"

LSP floated up to him. "Yo Finn! This like, came from all the princesses and people you helped out!" she said. "You can thank me for that by the way, I like, made your injury internet famous."

Finn smiled. "Thanks LSP."

"Oh glob! That like, totally reminds me!" LSP pulled out her phone for another video. "Hey everybody, Lumpy Space Princess here! I have awesome news for you all!" she turned the camera on Finn. "Finn the Human is okay now! He pulled through everybody, he lumping pulled through! And he's got a hot, new battlescar."

Finn covered his scar with one hand and waved at the phone with the other. "Hey guys, what's up? Uh… thanks for the baskets, it really means a lot to me. Gonna be honest, I wasn't expecting so many."

LSP turned the camera back on her. "As modest as he is brave, remember to subscribe to my channel and keep sending me-I mean Finn-those gift baskets. LSP out." she ended the video. "Aaaaaaand, send." she then turned to Finn. "Hey Finn, since I'm the one who got you those gift baskets, I think it's only fair that I get a share of-"

Before she could finish, Kim Kil Whan zapped the pile of goodies with his horn and it all disappeared in a flash of colors. "Ahhhhh! Where'd they go?!" LSP demanded.

"I am not inclined to inform you of the gift baskets whereabouts." KKW said, but as LSP began floating around the area where the gift baskets and cards were he leaned over and whispered "They're in your treehouse." into Finn's ear.

Finn remembered what Prismo told him. 'Stability, a ray of hope, someone to look at and say ah what's the worst that could happen with this guy around?' Seems like the pink shadow wasn't kidding, although Finn still wasn't sure he deserved so much praise or even if he was ready to even attempt to earn that praise.

Jake must have picked up on his distress. "Hey man, you okay? You seem a little out of it."

"It could be a side effect from your unexplained, rapid healing." Bubblegum suggested. "Lie back down and we can conduct a proper medical evaluation."

It's not that PB, I'm fine." Finn said. "I just… had the craziest dream."

"Yeah, your spirit kinda went rogue while you were out." Ice King said. "Where'd you go? Come on, tell me tell me!"

Finn just stared at the mad wizard. "Long story short… I need your help with something."

Until next chapter.